Copyrights and other dates

Bearhug sat with me in my class at church, as he didn't want to go to his own class.

The teacher wrote two dates on the chalkboard.

As soon as he saw the dates on the board, Bearhug perked up. He leaned over to me and whispered, "what are those dates, Mom?"

(It occurs to me that perhaps if I suggest that his teacher incorporate some kind of dates or timeline into their lessons that he might be more inclined to go to his own class, lol.)

I whispered back what the teacher had just explained - that one of the dates was her birthday and the other was the day she was baptized.

He mulled that over and then whispered back to me, "Mom, she was born the year after Bill Watterson."

me: "Who's Bill Watterson?"

BH: "The creator of Calvin and Hobbes. He's 52 years old."

me: "Wow, I didn't know that. You know a lot of things."

BH: "Yeah, I do."

:)

He went on to comment on the teacher's age and how old she was when she was baptized (didn't take him long to do the math in his head).

He and Cuddlebug continue to amaze me with their knowledge of and memory for dates.

They insist on knowing the copyright year for every show we watch (we must watch to the very end so they can see the copyright date), every book they read, every game they play (board games, video games, card games, etc.).

Not only that, they've been studying the history of their favorites and can tell you:

- the beginning and ending year of pretty much every cartoon that has aired on Nicktoons since the early 1990's

- the release year of every version of every Pokemon game (seriously, they can recite the ENTIRE history of Pokemon), including when they were released in Japan and in the U.S.

- same for every Mario game, and most of the rest of the Nintendo lineup

- speaking of Nintendo, they can tell you the history of the various game systems - NES, N64, DS, etc., including when each was released and when they stopped making it (if they have), and when each game above was published for each system

The list goes on, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but you get the idea.

It's pretty impressive stuff, but oh. my. goodness. they keep asking me about all the video games and cartoons from when I was younger and I am clueless.

"Hey Mom, what was your favorite Nicktoons cartoon between the years of 1996 and 2000?"

"umm... which ones were running during those years?"

So they list them all, and repeat the question. Which was my favorite? They don't take "I don't remember" as an answer, so I pick one. But then they want to know what I liked best about it. Help!

"Hey Mom, which Nintendo 64 games were your favorite in the 1990's?"

"Mom, did you watch The Angry Beavers in 1999?"

"Mom, what year did you first read Calvin and Hobbes?"

"Mom, aren't you glad you were already born when the Nintendo Entertainment System was first invented?"

"Hey Mom, what's the longest running TV show?"

(we looked that one up, it's "Meet the Press" which apparently has been on the air since 1947. I had no idea).

"Hey Mom, when was UNO created?"

Told them if they'd clean up the living room I'd look it up. They did.

It was 1971.

"Wow, that's not as old as I thought. It's not as old as 'Meet the Press'. Hey, UNO is the same age as Dad! When was the creator born?"

And so it goes. They're certainly keeping me on my toes! :)



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