It looked really cool. My 11 year old son had taken a piece of paper on the counter and folded it into a boat, although I didn’t know at that moment that he was the one who did it. At first I thought that he might have found it somewhere, but I asked him where he got it and he said he made it. You made it? Really? I had never seen my son do origami, so I was a bit perplexed. I mean, I hadn’t paid for origami lessons. He then proceeded to make other paper things, and I was still sitting in wonderment about what had happened.

How did you learn this son? ‘Youtube’ he says. Yep, Youtube taught my son the art of oragami. A few days later I came upon my daughter practicing a song on her guitar by watching… yep, you guessed it, a Youtube video. After all, she could pause the video and watch it over and over again till she got it. Now, tell me again why I am paying for guitar lessons??

So obviously this caused my mind to start wondering. What exactly are my kids learning on Youtube? Do I need to be concerned? Should I feel jealous that my kids weren’t coming to me to learn those things that fathers are supposed to teach their kids? Was Youtube replacing me? Well, Youtube isn’t going to give them any money for the movies, so I feel pretty secure that I’m not going anywhere. At least, I think so.

I must admit I have used Youtube countless times to learn something I needed to know. It just never occurred to me that my kids would be doing the same thing. And honestly, I am starting to get a new perspective on this. Now that I think about it, I can use Youtube to my advantage. Dad, can you show me how to shave? Youtube, son. Hey dad, how do you tie this knot? Youtube, son. I am starting to like this. Now, if I can just find a video on how to take the garbage out so my oldest son can visualize it.