Our Parents Had it Easy

That's right I said our parents had it E-A-S-Y!!!!  At least as far as stalking us was concerned.  When we were aged 12-14 and they wanted to know what we were doing they could look for our diaries... dig through school bags for notes, or maybe even pick up another phone in the house and listen to our calls.  Remember when your phone lived on a table and not in your pocket?  They could keep us off the phone just by using it themselves.  Meanwhile here I am keeping tabs on the almost 12 year old in this house that I knew was up to more than she was allowed.  What does this involve?  Lots of investigations through emails/ Internet History/ Texts/ cell Phones etc.  Too many texts that say "message me on my iPod" or "Email Me" hinted that I was missing something.  The cell phone she has is through a kid safe company.  Time restrictions, number restrictions, ability to block photo messages etc.  But no one can keep up with the App developers!!  They just keep on developing.  Hell half of them are probably under 15 years old.  So there's an app to text, an app to fake text, and an app to change the icons of your apps that do those things I just mentioned.  These kids find ways around everything anyways.  "Mom Can I make an account on Quizlalaland?  You know it's run by that popular kid's TV network and you can make quizzes and people can answer."  "Sure you can honey, sounds fun!"   "Oh wait... There are messaging capabilities, social networking and photo sharing on this too?"  Yeah there is.  Of course there is.  Guess what?  That is everywhere.  How in the heck do we teach kids who are curious and intelligent to hold back?  Stay young.  You don't need to tell that super cute boy (he must be cute, his name is HotBoy1998) that you are tall and skinny and in the 9th grade.  You are ELEVEN... Go play jump rope or color a picture of a Unicorn.  It must be tempting to be someone you aren't when it seems like there is a whole entire world of teenagers that you just cannot wait to be a part of.  But it's really no rush.  You will blink your eyes daughter and suddenly YOU will be an adult with far too many responsibilities.   Someone please tell me how to get my kid into a bubble and away from all things techy...Except of course when we need technology which is about 80 % of the hours in the day it seems.  In fact I am glad I found "What happens when you put dry ice in the microwave?" in her internet search history and not in an aftermath in my kitchen...