"Daddy, what were things like in the good old days?"

My daughter's melodic little voice took on a sarcastic edge from the back seat of our car. I recognized my answer would either help me avoid falling over the grass-covered trap or I would fall headfirst into a series of questions I didn't want to answer.

"Well sweetheart, they weren't too much different than they are today."

Wrong answer.

"What do you mean, daddy?"

"Well, for instance you play video games and I played video games. In fact, I played the same Mario Brothers game that you and your brother play."

Silence wafted through the back seat for nearly a minute. Nice job dad, I complimented myself, allowing a smile to crack my lips.

"So the Mario Brothers game is as old as you? That's really old, daddy!"

She chuckled, either extremely pleased with her ability to connect the dots between me, Mario Brothers and being old, or at her quick wit. I'm still not sure.

"Yes, we are both that old," I muttered, silently cursing the entire Mars Primary Center staff for teaching 5-year-old kids how to add.

I turned on some music to diffuse the situation.

This, like answering her question in the first place, proved to be costly.

"And now, another great oldie from your generation," barked the DJ.

Not surprisingly my fingers started to tap the steering wheel and I sang along to Steve Perry and the boys from Journey.

"Any way you want it, that's the way you need it, any way you want it ..." I crooned while my daughter played Mario Brothers in the back seat and my son giggled at the silliness of it all.

The song ended and bled into another great tune again from my generation. And again, I knew all the words. It was John Cougar. Remember him? He's the guy who came before John Mellencamp.

"Daddy, you must be getting old." The angelic voice had taken on demonic undertones. The next question was my biggest mistake.

"Why do you say that, honey?" I gazed into the rearview mirror and caught a flash of her almond-shaped eyes.

"Cuz you're wearing papa's sweater. He's old, and if you're wearing his sweater, you must be old, too." More curses to the group at Mars Primary Center for teaching logic and reasoning.

My mind raced back to a time when I was in the back seat making fun of my dad for listening to the Four Tops, the Drifters and Frankie Valli.

I was playing the first hand-held video game and my sister was laughing at the conversation. My mother was rolling her eyes at the spectacle taking place, the same way my wife was rolling her eyes while listening to the very adultlike conversation taking place between me and my 5-year-old.

The irony, of course, is that the conversation was occurring in our car as we rolled along the highway, heading to another adventure.

Life is a highway and I do want to drive it all night long, eager to experience the adventures waiting on the next horizon; eager to experience them as a new "old" guy with my daughter asking questions along the way.