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No need to apologize mediaman, I took no offense at your response. I was neither insulting nor uncivil and I would absolutely say these things to any other par

No need to apologize mediaman, I took no offense at your response. I was neither insulting nor uncivil and I would absolutely say these things to any other parent of a 7 year old. In my household we use google regularly to find things, like right now she's looking for summer programs in her area, she looks for animals she likes, she looks for cages for her new pet mouse... She has known and used google for years as have most of her friends. And a child of 7 being concerned about a start-up making money? why would a child ask that? They are either (as I said) copying the oft spoken words of a parent or they are burdened with things that a child of 7 should not be. "scheming about money" seems a little unusual. Mine likes to play shop, but she's much more interested in the natural world and leaves money to the grown ups. My child also likes to go play outside, but she also likes to look things up that she has seen or found or heard about, just like me. I don't limit that, I encourage that. Being voraciously curious and knowing how to use a tool that can satisfy that is I think a true gift of living in the modern world and I very much want my child to be part of the modern world. I'm sure you meant well mediaman, but if you are ever around kids you'll realize that every 7 year old knows about google.

sanj 17y ago
Ah, this may be the crux of it. My kid didn't ask because of Google-the-service or Google-the-website, but because of Google-the-company. I assume this was because I was yammering about visiting MTV, about meeting up with their folks here in Boston, about people he knew working there and about struggling with the APIs. BTW, I would be a little judicious about using the term "unusual" to describe anyone's kids but your own. I don't take offense because I think most kids are "unusual". And I'm quite happy with how happily unusual mine is. But most people would.
- sfphotoarts 17y ago
  I didn't use the term "unusual" to describe your child. I used it to describe his/her behavior... there's a big difference. I wouldn't say your child is unusual (I don't know him/her), but an obsession with money in a 7 year old is definitely unusual, ask any child psychologist (like my wife). 7 year olds live in a world where money is of little importance, they cannot play with it (much), they don't have any of it (to speak of) and they don't need any of it, because they have love and friends which are much more important to them. The idea of a 7 year old scheming a way to game a lemonade stand to maximize monetary gain seems grotesque. A lemonade stand is a social activity, not a start-up opportunity. I personally believe that money and its trappings of consumerism are like TV, they should be limited in children. I don't let my child watch much TV and I discourage her from finding money, or the collection of new shiny things interesting. There are, after all, a lot more useful and interesting things in this world that acquiring money. That is a value that I try to teach my child. Your child, your values... I'm not trying to tell you how to parent. I was simply correcting the mediaman from jumping into something he clearly knows nothing about and gobbing off rules like he's some kind of school yard bully.
  - sanj 17y ago
    Wow. Referring to my kid's behaviour as "unusual" and "grotesque" based on a single snapshot of his life is over the line.
    - lionhearted 17y ago
      Sanj, First, it sounds like you're doing a hell of a job and your boy sounds really cool and bright. I hope my kids are getting into business and entrepreneurship that early. Second, some people don't have any social skills - I wouldn't sweat it. I mean, I guess you already know that, but seriously - don't sweat it. You sound like an awesome dude, and best wishes to you and yours. Nevermind the occasional knucklehead, there's quite a few of them but they don't know better usually.
rw 17y ago
> but if you are ever around kids you'll realize that every 7 year old knows about google. This is one of the most absurd things I have ever read here. According to the CIA World Factbook, there are 1.8 billion children under 14 years of age. Divide such a number by 14, and we get what might be the number of 7-year-olds on the planet: 130 million. I do not find it at all plausible that 130 million 7-year-olds on this planet know about Google. A large fraction of those children have never used a computer, why should they care? If I knew you personally, I would worry about your children. Do you act like this around them?

sanj 17y ago

Ah, this may be the crux of it. My kid didn't ask because of Google-the-service or Google-the-website, but because of Google-the-company. I assume this was because I was yammering about visiting MTV, about meeting up with their folks here in Boston, about people he knew working there and about struggling with the APIs. BTW, I would be a little judicious about using the term "unusual" to describe anyone's kids but your own. I don't take offense because I think most kids are "unusual". And I'm quite happy with how happily unusual mine is. But most people would.

sfphotoarts 17y ago
I didn't use the term "unusual" to describe your child. I used it to describe his/her behavior... there's a big difference. I wouldn't say your child is unusual (I don't know him/her), but an obsession with money in a 7 year old is definitely unusual, ask any child psychologist (like my wife). 7 year olds live in a world where money is of little importance, they cannot play with it (much), they don't have any of it (to speak of) and they don't need any of it, because they have love and friends which are much more important to them. The idea of a 7 year old scheming a way to game a lemonade stand to maximize monetary gain seems grotesque. A lemonade stand is a social activity, not a start-up opportunity. I personally believe that money and its trappings of consumerism are like TV, they should be limited in children. I don't let my child watch much TV and I discourage her from finding money, or the collection of new shiny things interesting. There are, after all, a lot more useful and interesting things in this world that acquiring money. That is a value that I try to teach my child. Your child, your values... I'm not trying to tell you how to parent. I was simply correcting the mediaman from jumping into something he clearly knows nothing about and gobbing off rules like he's some kind of school yard bully.
- sanj 17y ago
  Wow. Referring to my kid's behaviour as "unusual" and "grotesque" based on a single snapshot of his life is over the line.
  - lionhearted 17y ago
    Sanj, First, it sounds like you're doing a hell of a job and your boy sounds really cool and bright. I hope my kids are getting into business and entrepreneurship that early. Second, some people don't have any social skills - I wouldn't sweat it. I mean, I guess you already know that, but seriously - don't sweat it. You sound like an awesome dude, and best wishes to you and yours. Nevermind the occasional knucklehead, there's quite a few of them but they don't know better usually.

rw 17y ago

> but if you are ever around kids you'll realize that every 7 year old knows about google. This is one of the most absurd things I have ever read here. According to the CIA World Factbook, there are 1.8 billion children under 14 years of age. Divide such a number by 14, and we get what might be the number of 7-year-olds on the planet: 130 million. I do not find it at all plausible that 130 million 7-year-olds on this planet know about Google. A large fraction of those children have never used a computer, why should they care? If I knew you personally, I would worry about your children. Do you act like this around them?