I BELIEVE there comes a time in any parent’s life when they have to accept their offspring will humiliate them. Usually it takes the form of being out-smarted, out-performed or simply made to feel out-of-date by their child.

Like the day when the maths homework proves too difficult.

Or perhaps the time when you realise you do actually have to make an effort if you want to win the game.

Sadly, my day of humiliation has already come.

My boy is now better than me at something – technology.

He can work the DVD player, unlock my iPhone and select applications and play games on an iPad – and all without any tuition from me at all.

It would be easy for me to save face and say that all things teccy are not the be-all-and-end-all-of-life.

Is running around in the park and making dens not just as important (although he’s better than me at that too)?

They are – and you might want to restrict the amount of time children spend on computers and the like – but you can’t turn back the clock.

And neither can you underestimate the importance of technology because it has permeated every aspect of our lives.

You can only fully recognise this when you watch a child grow up surrounded by the many boxes, phones, sat navs and more.

They hold no mystery for him but, by contrast, even at my tender age I am already a dinosaur.

I still remember a time before e-mail and mobile phones and I remember when the novelty of e-mail became text messages became smartphones became iPads and so on.

You try to keep up with developments but it’s a losing battle.

Once you have a handle on one thing, something else crops up.

My boy will also have to adapt as new technology is created but it seems easier for those who have never known any different.

So while I still look for instructions as to how any new device might work, he just, well, gives it a go.

He has no fear because he innately understands that trial and error is the best way.

So he works on the assumption that if he presses every button in every order eventually it will work.

And do you know what? He’s right.

It’s irritating to have to take lessons from a three-year-old but I suppose we all have to live and learn.