A few weeks ago I received an email from my husband during his morning commute with a link to YouTube video taken last summer of my daughter telling a knock-knock joke. A few days  later I got another blank email with a picture of Tinker Bell attached. My suspicions were confirmed when I opened email with a voice file attachment last week and heard Laurel telling me in a whispered voice that Daddy didn’t know that she was using his phone

But it wasn’t until I got my own iPhone this week that I understood how technically proficient my kids had become. Laurel and Trevor immediately started taking pictures of themselves in their car seats and setting their photo as my wallpaper. Each time I pick up the phone, I am not sure which child is going to be staring back at me since they are currently "battling" over whose picture will be my wallpaper.

After talking with other friends I realized that I am not the first parent to receive a lesson on how to use their phone from their child. Trevor gave me a quick demonstration on how to download apps from the Apple Store and even found the Monster Truck game he wanted me to buy for him. A few days later when I couldn’t figure out a how to set my phone to vibrate, Laurel knew exactly where the switch was located. My kids are currently amusing themselves by changing my ringtone when I am not paying attention. My son is partial to the duck ringtone while my daughter prefers the dog one. Not only do I keep missing calls because I have no idea what my phone ringer sounds like at any given moment, my purse is often "barking" or "quacking" while I look around to see who brought animals into the grocery store.

And my kid’s expertise doesn’t seem to end with smart phones. My daughter figured out how to change the volume and eject a CD from my new laptop a few months ago when I was stumped. We recently realized that they had figured out how to record television series when our DVR queue was filled up with Phineas and Ferb episodes. Last month, I watched in awe as Laurel downloaded pictures from my digital camera with no guidance from me.

When I was growing up, I remember helping my grandparents use new technology such as the computer and the VCR. At the time I thought it was strange how they were a grownup, but I could figure out the technology so much easier than they could. But now I understood how they felt and really wish I had been a bit more patient with my grandfather as I explained how to use a mouse for the 4 millionth time.

Yes, I know that the solution to my current predicament is to set a password on my iPhone. The only problem is that I’ll have to ask my kids to help me set it and then I am positive that I will never again be able to get into my phone.

Jennifer appears Mondays on TriangleMom2Mom.