Kids react to "rotary phones":

[frazzled]

2. Try explaining broadcast/cable television to them!

Last summer my then-4-year-old grandniece came to stay with us for a few days and we were on baby-sitting duty a good bit of the time. So my nephew-in-law told me it would be okay to let her watch a bit of television if we were in a pickle, even though she doesn't watch it at home. Daddy and Papa, like most younger people these days, don't have cable television. They do Hulu and Netflix or whatever, and their daughter grew up with an iPad. So while she watches Dora the Explorer et al. on the mobile device, television is not something she has had any experience with.

So, afternoon one, after a long day, I tell her she can watch our TV for a bit, to rest. I turn on Nickelodeon and she's thrilled: Bubble Guppies! I sit down and watch this incredibly goofy show with her. Next afternoon, I need to cook dinner, so I ask her if she'd like to watch TV again. "Oh yes, I want to watch Bubble Guppies!" she says. I reply that I'm not sure if it's on. "Yes it is," she protests, "you had it yesterday." I try to explain to her that on our television there is a schedule, and they show different programs at different times and different days. This is incomprehensible to this otherwise savvy toddler. She doesn't buy it: "You have it!" she says, stomping her foot. "Just press the icon!"

We live in an on demand world, and I still remember that yellow rotary phone we had on our front-hall desk.