If you live away from your family, you know how hard it can be, especially if you have small children. Your family, particularly their grandparents, want to see them grow. We came up with a small way to help my parents see our kids—we got them a webcam for Christmas. We visited over the holidays and set everything up while we were there, making sure we could see each other from both computers.
I have to admit, when we left, I wasn’t quite sure it would actually be put to use. I had hoped we could agree on a regular time to “see each other” and chat but I wasn’t sure it would actually come to pass. It did this past weekend.
I called first. My parents were about to sit down for breakfast but my father went to turn on the computer, right at the table. We chatted, my daughter eagerly walked up to the camera to say, “Hi” to Pop Pop and Grandma. The web camera had this feature… which was a bit annoying at first… that followed your face. It would zoom in and out, depending on your proximity to the camera. We sat there as my daughter did her thing. Then it happened.
My mother jumped up from the table—the camera zoomed out in an attempt to follow her face—as she screamed, “My breakfast is burning.” The camera zoomed out, allowing me to see her run over to the stove to try to save it. I swear I could see smoke!! It was a far more exciting web chat than I ever thought I could have. It made me realize this was the perfect gift that would just keep giving.
Cost of webcam: $100.
Cost of our first video web chat: Priceless.
Posted by Dawn Jefferies at 12:15 PM. Filed under: main •
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