Can I make you a mixed tape?

As my 7-year-old perused my tattered childhood scrapbooks she said, "Mommy, why did your mom just paste stuff in here instead of making it pretty like you do?" I explained to her that back when I was a kid they didn't create scrapbooks like they do now with scrapbook papers, stickers and protective covers.

Then I made the fatal mistake of saying, "Kind of like how they didn't have computers back then, either."

Her eyes widened and she gasped, "No computer!? How did anyone write to each other?"

After recovering from my own surprise and a good chuckle, I replied, "With pen, paper and the postal service!"

Her jaw dropped and I rendered her speechless.

We've probably all been forwarded the email about what kids graduating this year will not remember because it happened "before their time."

Like being in a classroom without computers.

Or remembering when Jimmy Carter was president. (Or Reagan, for that matter!)

How about playing an 8-track...or even knowing what it is.

That there used to be a country called the Soviet Union - and it was a superpower.

Watching The Challenger explode on television.

You get the idea.

I read that email once or twice and admit to thinking, "Are you kidding me? Wow, I guess that was a long time ago."

But when it comes from the mouth of your own child. Whoa. Whole different deal.

I suddenly recall the stories my parents used to tell me of getting to school on horse-drawn cart, hauling water, and not having a TV. Soooo archaeic, I thought at the time.

And now that's me. My own flesh and blood is aghast that there once was a day before computers.

I'm not even going to bring up the subject of rotary phones...