Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you! I’m back today with another Slice of Life Post. I enjoy writing these posts and getting to know some of the other Slice of Lifers, too.
Today, I’m reflecting back on our weekend. Both boys had a friend spend the night Friday night, and it was interesting to see how they occupied themselves. Their most favorite thing they did was make You Tube videos.
How fun is that? The creator of You Tube has made an amazing product. My boys get creative with their videos, and they’re actually quite funny. You have to remember both of my kids are in elementary school.
It’s great they can get online, share their videos, and talk about it with their friends using Skype. I love this App myself. I’ve used it a number of times. Technology certainly has made communicating with others much easier, but we have to be careful, too.
The Internet can be a dangerous place. Predators hang out there just like they do at bus stops and parks. They’re just looking for that one kid who’s lonely and unattended. The same thing applies to the Internet.
We make it a point to know all of our boys’ friends. So when they’re Skyping, we know who they’re talking to. We’re that involved. Some might call us helicopter parents, but I don’t care. My kids are safe and that’s the most important thing.
We allow our boys to have their friends over quite a bit. It can be a lot of work, but we’re okay with that because we can keep an eye on them. We also get to know their friends, too. We listen to their conversations as they sit around the table and eat. It’s a great group of kids, and I feel blessed that my boys have such good friends.
It reminds me of my friends back in my elementary and junior high days. I had awesome friends, too. I don’t think we ever have friendships as close at any other point in our lives as we did back in those days. I don’t know how anyone else feels, but my friends and I were so tight back then.
We still meet occasionally, but we’re all so busy with our own families and commitments that it’s hard to get everyone together at the same time. It’s interesting to see how far all of us have journeyed on our path.
We didn’t have Skype back then, but we did have the telephone. Remember those old landlines? Wow. We’ve come a long way, haven’t we? Thanks for reading my post. How do you feel about your kids using the Internet? Do you feel the Internet has helped or hindered them as they grow into adulthood? Leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!
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Lisa, I think that all the internet has to offer can only help children to expand their understanding of the world and their place in it but I agree with you they need to be very carefully supervised.
I agree Bernadette! Thanks for stopping by! I’m kind of excited that I have kids growing up in this era. It is fun to watch. 🙂
It is so different from when we were kids. And yet…Youtube lets kids record their creative play and Skype lets us stay connected. All things we did, just in different formats. Your boys sound like a lot of fun.
Good points, Adrienne! Thanks for stopping by. I am having a lot of fun with my boys. I’m so glad I get to see them grow up! 🙂
I am sure every generation reflects on the new innovations in the next generations lives. The changes seem to come faster than in the past now. Good practices are probably the same though. Be involved, 💜 love and give guidance! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, Kim. I appreciate your kind words. You’re absolutely right, love and guidance are the keys to good parenting! 🙂
Great points! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Our house was always the meeting place when my kids were young, and technology has enabled them to stay in touch with many of their friends from elementary and middle school. In that way, tech has been great.
Thanks for stopping by Tara. You’ve got a good point about technology helping kids stay in touch. I can see this as a great blessing.
It sounds like you’ve found a good balance between embracing all that technology brings, while still holding true to what you believe is important (like knowing your sons’ friends.) I worry sometimes about my daughters’ future – what will technology mean for them?
I know what you mean, Dana. I wonder how technology will affect future relationships. Will our kids lose the art of conversation because they’re communicating via text, emails, and instant messaging? Will they lose emotional intelligence because they can no longer read body language, or gauge another person’s emotions? These are some of the things I think about. 🙂