If I Had A Robot …

So, if you had a robot, what would you want it to do for you? I''m sure you were Just thinking about that very same question. If you are now asking yourself "How does this have anything to do with parenting? " let me ease your mind by blowing some smoke up your um, we parents are real busy people. The kind of people who need robots to do stuff for us. She doesnt do windows starpulse. com She doesn''t do windows Actually, this reverie came out of three things. 1. My post on Mother''s Day gifts led to the revelation by tinkleflick that in addition to the Roomba (the vacuuming robot) here is a Scooba.

I need one. 2. My family Just went to the severely overcrowded Makers Faire recently, so we are seriously geeked out on robots right now. (By the way, we came close to touching the brim of Adam''s hat. You know, Adam Savage from "Mythbusters. " For geeks I believe that is close to a religious experience, right up there with getting to second base with someone who looks a lot like Princess Lela. ) And 3. I always think about things like this, generally around the time when I have a looming deadline. For years IVe pondered, "What would I do on the Holodeck? but rust me, it gets way too raunchy for a family blog. But really, wouldn''t you Just stay on the Holodeck forever? Good god, somebody get the geek tranquilizers before I start telling you more about my Rock Band exploits. Anyhow, I made some ground rules because that''s how I am. You get to pick five things the robot can do. You can have the robot do one kind of chore, but you cant say "a robot that does all the housework" because that''s like wishing for more wishes and it gets dull. Your robot can only do things people can do, so no robots making you invisible or what-have-you.

And yes, many of us would naturally be getting, um, regular servicing, if you will, from the robot. So let''s Just concede that it goes without saying, and really, you don''t need to say it. Cuddling, however, is still on the table. I will say this exercise is kinda interesting because it makes you think about what in your life is pure drudgery and what you actually enjoy. For example, for a minute I thought about having my robot write blog posts for me, since it would free up so much my time, but realized I enjoy that too much. See how much I love you? of a Job, and that''s not right.