Finding Ninee » Sharing our parenting and special needs stories with heart and humor.

What Will Life Be Like in 100 Years?

What will life be like in 100 years - @findingninee.com

Do you ever wonder what life will be like in 100 years? Each week, my six-year-old boy is supposed to bring his completed homework assignment to school on Friday. The packet rides home in his backpack Monday or Tuesday, giving us plenty of time to review 14 spelling words, line up paper squares into columns of things that start and end with “s” and “h” and “sh,” and write down which books we read. The latter, at least, has been easier lately, as one of the books is always about sharks.

I no longer keep track of the titles; All About Sharks or Mako Sharks or Everything You Need to Know about Great Whites are interchangeable enough to me, and so I simply fill one of the boxes with “Shark Book,” and call that good enough.

Because sometimes, especially when it comes to keeping track of a six-year-old boy’s homework and love of sharks, good enough is good enough.  

The homework though. The future.  

Each Thursday, I say “Next week, we’re going to do half of this on Tuesday,” and still, each Thursday finds me scrambling to find the packet, telling him that it has to get done, him producing a few tears. Eventually, we get through it. Sometimes, like tonight, it even ends up being fun, as we talk about the similarities of the words “fish” and “dish” and “mash” and wonder what, exactly, “nash” is.

Each week, I look to the future “next week, we’ll do a better job of this. We’ll be more prepared. Someday, he won’t even want me to help him, or I won’t know how to,” I think.

Oh to the tomorrows, to being better, more prepared and to the being better today, and saying f*ck it, and to living in the now, finding a way to make a six-year-old boy decide that learning to spell can be fun by acting out “mash” and “nash” and “fish” and “dish.”

The house is growing quiet, and, in thinking of homework and life, I think about all of the tomorrows. He lost his second tooth today, at school. The first, I helped him to pull, and we put it beneath his pillow in an envelope for the Tooth Fairy. The first thing he did the next morning was to see if she’d remembered to come. 

Today, he lost his second one at school, and brought it to me in a tiny plastic treasure chest, proud, and too independent. When I mentioned the Tooth Fairy, he said “She won’t come tonight. My friend at school said she sleeps late on Fridays.”

In part, angry, because for this, his second tooth, I’ll remember. In part, amused, because probably, a parent forgot one Friday, and her child is passing on this nugget of wisdom to his classmates. In part, annoyed, because often these days, my little boy believes classmates over me, even when I say “Oh she’ll come, Buddy. I know it! It’s your second tooth, after-all, and really special.”

“She won’t,” he replied. Joey said so at school.

Sigh. To peers and the excitement over the Tooth Fairy now and to the future.

Lost another tooth today, mom. Pretty soon, I

I rallied him up enough to think she may come and he drew this for her, on the envelope holding his tooth:

Tooth Loss Finding Ninee

I waver between excitement and trepidation for the future. I wonder What Will Life Be Like in 100 Years. 

I imagine families in 100 years from now, and wonder whether they still procrastinate homework, or whether by then, each kid will plug-in and download the week’s assignments, learning them in his sleep.

I imagine families 100 years ago, and know that many didn’t have homework, or the luxury of school, and marvel that 100 years ago feels so impossible but also so real. After all, my grandparents were alive 100 years ago. I read something recently – an article my brother sent to us all on New Year’s Day – that said the average man’s life expectancy in 1915 was 47 years old.

Back then, children were more likely to die before the age of five, and women gave birth at home, and sometimes died from it. A woman like me, who gave birth to her first and only at the age of barely-hanging-onto-40 certainly would have been put to pasture, or to work taking care of other people’s children.

What will it be like in another 100 years? Will women be able to birth babies into their 60’s? Will humans live to be 160 or more? Will there be a cure for cancer and for AIDS and for heartbreak?

Will we freeze ourselves and will we all be super-humans with the metabolism of a teenaged athlete?

I asked my alien friends, who were kind enough to come for a visit again during a short nap today. I’d stocked up on Doritos and wine, and put a sign in my yard inviting them.

Aliens we are back beer and doritos - life in the future - ©findingninee.com

I asked them about the future. Simple questions, like whether I’d live until the year 2059 and beyond as I so hope to. And you know, other simple things such as whether my little boy will be okay without me.

So will I live a really long time into the future -©findingninee.com

They were quiet, and I got worried. Plus, I think crazy neighbor lady may have been watching at this point.

I think the neighbor is watching - do I have a future and will my boy be okay? ©findingninee

“Hey guys!” I shouted (but quietly, in case crazy neighbor lady was watching). “Talk to me! Is everything going to be okay? Will I live to be 100?”

You see, I had them with beer and Doritos, and I wanted answers. Sadly, I don’t think they had them either.

We dont know what the future holds either ©findingninee.com

My alien friends don’t know what the future holds for us either, or how long we’ll live, or whether we’ll battle illness or even whether we’ll have Doritos in the house tomorrow, after their visit.

When it comes to the future, we don’t know. We can hope, and expect, and pray for a land of empathy and wonder. We can dream of speaking to our children’s children, in the year 2059.

For today, dreaming and hoping will have to be enough. However, who knows what the future holds. Perhaps, tomorrow, we’ll know a bit more than we do today. In the meantime? I think I’m going to try and do homework and life better next week than this.

Oh, and today, I’ll remember that the Tooth Fairy needs to visit soon.

***

kristi rieger campbell finished post for finding ninee

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This has been a Finish the Sentence Friday post. The week’s sentence is “In the future…”
Host: Me, from FindingNinee.com

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  • Lisa @ Golden Spoons - Amazing, isn’t it to think how far we’ve come in 100 years. Can you imagine what our great grandparents would think of iPhones??? And, if we’ve come this far in the past 100, what will life look like 100 more years from now? Lately, I’ve been thinking about a lot tomorrow – hoping that the tomorrows will be better than the todays, because the todays are hard right now. Maybe I should look at it your way and just hope that next week will be better than this one.January 14, 2016 – 10:13 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - It really is amazing how far we’ve come. It’s kinda scary, too, I think, trying to imagine the technology that our kids and their kids will learn. And yeah, the tomorrows better and also to hoping next week is better than this (although I don’t know about your girls, but Tucker’s off school on Monday and Tuesday). Gah.January 14, 2016 – 10:34 pmReplyCancel

  • Dana - I missed your alien friends! I miss the lost teeth, the shark books, the homework packets. Okay, maybe not the homework packets.

    I’ve been thinking a lot about the future lately, and I really should try to focus on today and tomorrow. I can’t even fathom 100 years from now.January 14, 2016 – 10:53 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Bleh to homework packets. Seriously. One week, I’ll get this right and we won’t be rushing around on the night before it’s due. I can’t really fathom 100 years from now either. Even tomorrow is a little muddy. Thanks, Dana!January 15, 2016 – 5:06 pmReplyCancel

  • JT Walters - Congrats Tucker and you have nothing to feel bad about one time Alex lost a tooth and his tooth fairy Alexanderia Meeka Shelly had to leave him a promisary note because Mom had no money on her that particular day. She always wrote him notes with each tooth he lost but the last one was a promisary note.

    The future I imagine we will turn in our current troubles for new ones. A hundred years ago my grandmother did go to private school in New York but no public school but no energy crisis either.

    The future is incomprehensible for us all.

    The only thing I can guarantee you is love will persist and let’s hope cell battery life is infinite!😊

    Congrats Tucker😘😘😘😘 and I know Mom is really the procrastinator😉,January 14, 2016 – 11:04 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Here’s to love persisting, JT and to promissory notes from tooth fairies 😉
      Also cell battery life being infinite would be so so nice.

      — –
      yes, mom is the procrastinator. 😐January 15, 2016 – 5:10 pmReplyCancel

  • Kelly L McKenzie - My son adored shark books! He brought them home from school all the time when he was younger. Imagine my delight when our golden retriever chewed the book and my son had to take the soggy bits back to the librarian in a baggie. I wrote a note saying we’d pay for a replacement. She wouldn’t hear of it and to this day gleefully shows the bag to students as a cautionary tale. The name of the book? “Shark bite.”
    I do hope that you avoided making the same mistake I did. I bought a Tooth Fairy pillow that was equipped with bells. “Jingly jingly jingly jingly jingly …” So conducive to subtle coin delivery and tooth removal …January 15, 2016 – 2:08 amReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Oh Kelly to the Shark Books! A new one came home from the school library today! I love that he loves them so much but seriously – he knows tons and tons of facts about sharks. Way more than I ever wanted to know. HAHA to the dog biting Shark Bite and to the jingly jingly tooth fairy pillow!January 15, 2016 – 5:43 pmReplyCancel

  • Kenya G. Johnson - Wow I thought to my future 100 hoping that I wouldn’t be a burden to my young 70 something son. Wouldn’t it be cool to be old people together with your kids? I’ve always hoped that for Me & Mom, we are only 18 years apart so it’s very possible but I never thought of being old people with Christopher. You sparked a daydream.

    I can’t remember how far behind the two top teeth are from coming out but I think kids are so cute without them.January 15, 2016 – 9:20 amReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Kenya, it would be SO fun to be old people with our kids but even if I’m 100, Tucker will only be like 60… you and your mom being old people together sounds fun! And I agree – little kids with missing teeth are so adorable. So adorable!!January 15, 2016 – 5:44 pmReplyCancel

  • Allie - Oh momma, our Tooth Fairy sleeps in all the time, and sometimes she gets lost and then shows up days later…. Would you believe Cammy (8!) still hasn’t lost his first tooth? Crazy. I don’t think too much about the way, way future, It’s incomprehensible to me. I don’t know why. And I try not to think about 2059, cause it scares me. Especially this: “other simple things such as whether my little boy will be okay without me.” SO don’t’ want to live till 160 – I imagine I’d be really tired. But at the same time, I really kind of have to…January 15, 2016 – 9:54 amReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Allie,
      You know, my brother’s son hasn’t lost his first one either and he’s almost eight. I think it’s different for every kid. LOL to being really really tired at 160. Or else, you’d be super spry because no carpool!January 15, 2016 – 5:45 pmReplyCancel

  • Marcia @Menopausalmom - Funny how children at this age believe everything their peers say. I love Tucker’s drawing! He will be thrilled when he finds that the Tooth Fairy stopped by. And thank you for your glimpse into the future—-I cannot even begin to imagine giving birth at 60, ha-ha!!January 15, 2016 – 9:59 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - LOL to giving birth at 60! Yikes! And yeah, he was happy about the tooth fairy and I love his drawings, too!January 15, 2016 – 11:48 pmReplyCancel

  • Emily - There are so many cute and hilarious things in this post! As for the tooth fairy, I was one of those parents that forgot once and I know I made something up (my brother once told his kid that she was busy watching Monday Night Football), but I must say that the sleeping late on Friday excuse is genius! That picture of Tucker with the missing tooth and saying he’ll be 30 soon cracked me up. Reminded me of that scene from “Father of the Bride” where Steve Martin’s daughter tells him she’s getting married and all he can picture is her as a toddler saying she’s getting married in a toddler voice. And, I know it’s frustrating that your alien friends can’t predict the future, but I can guarantee you this: you will not be helping with homework a few years from now. In fact, I can tell you with 100% certainty that not only won’t you be helping, you will have no idea what his homework even is because you will know he is responsible to handle it himself (and even if you did know what his HW was, you are correct in that you wouldn’t be able to help anyway bc who remembers 6th grade math? Not me!!) Ok, I’m done – sorry to hog up your comment space, but this was a fun post to read. 🙂January 19, 2016 – 8:58 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Emily!!! Please hog my comment space always and forever because you know I adore you and am so grateful for your friendship and perspectives. Awwww to the Father of the Bride and his daughter telling him she was getting married. I’d forgotten that scene and that movie (a little, never completely because awesome). Ugh to the homework. Truly. And yay to not having to help in a few years (because yay right???). Grin.
      I thought the sleeping late was pretty genius too but was annoyed that he believed his friend over me!January 20, 2016 – 1:05 amReplyCancel

  • Tamara - A cure for heartbreak. Yes. Although I saw Eternal Sunshine and it wasn’t the right answer there.
    Every Thursday night we scramble to fill in the blanks of the week’s worth of homework too!
    Every single time.January 20, 2016 – 5:02 pmReplyCancel

  • Sandra - well at least the tooth fairy showed up at all at the other boy’s house, if late. At my house she just stopped coming, and I told the kids it was because she went bankrupt with all the kids in our house. Mother of the year.
    Loved your Metallica t-shirt by the way!January 31, 2016 – 2:06 amReplyCancel

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