2020 -- A new decade, new goals

Our house is filled up by the energy, ideas, emotions, and wit of two teenagers and a preteen. All the kids are very active technology users. We hear so many scary things about kids and technology and social media and online predators and all sorts of fear inducing combinations. It's a bit overwhelming to me, if I'm honest. On the one hand, we tell our kids that they should use technology to make their lives easier, better, more rich. We set them up with email addresses and access to the school portal and we make them check those things constantly to make sure they stay on top of homework and announcements. But we also tell them to stop spending so much time on screens. I hate this push and pull on their time and emotions. And I hate my new role as the phone/computer police. I miss peeking over their shoulders at a photocopy, drawing or a book to see what they are working on. The computer is their main tool these days. So our house has set rules about where devices can be used, to make sure the computer is truly employed for homework when it's supposed to be, rather than the allure of an online game or social media (which we've banned for now). I miss having the problem of what to do with all their drawings and homemade books and lego creations. I love my BIG kids, don't get me wrong. Life is interesting and they are amazing people. There are just aspects of our life with little kids that I miss. Things I didn't realize would go away so soon.

In light of asking my kids to watch their use of technology and be wary of putting details into the interwebs that are not safe, I am distancing myself from social media outlets and also making my blog completely private. It will not pop up on feeds and, as you know dear reader, it requires permissions and logging in. This step makes me feel better about the details and pictures of our lives that are posted here. Funny enough, I'm also hoping it reminds me to use this blog again. Without FB to help me capture memories and share ideas, maybe I'll turn to blogging again. I know - very 1990's of me.

So the girls turn 13 in 10 days. My first thought is to at least blog about each kid on or near their birthday each year. So stay tuned! Maybe I'll actually follow my goal and post!