Temporary Gag Order

After just coming off a fall summit for Chief Marketing Officers that involved a lot of talk of Social Media, I've been giving the challenges of TMI (too much information) a lot of thought.  I started writing my blog because I love to share the trials and tribulations of my life with teenagers and felt like there was a sort of unspoken partnership of teenage parents out there.  The more I share the more I am sure that people love to hear my tribulations, but don't necessarily think they share in my trials.  This is where I promise you are wrong.

Twitter for teenagers is a place to hang out where parents aren't - if you haven't checked out your kids "Twitter" - you need to and stalk their friends too while you are it.  If you haven't checked it because you think they need privacy until they show you a reason to not trust them - the reason to not trust them is on their Twitter feed.  I have seen pictures of bongs, drunk girls, and inappropriate exposure of body parts.  It is almost a full time job.  I quit stalking them on Twitter recently because it is very time consuming (boys note - I could still access if I wanted to:) - .  I have seen enough to know that what's there is nothing good.  Same goes for "Vine", "Instagram", "Snapshot"  all = teenage trash.

Teenagers see the moment in front of them.  They have no concept of consequences that could cause them serious pain or future demise.  Taking away privileges, grounding etc make me feel like I'm parenting, but I have found a way to make it really hurt for them.  For every future naughty incident, the priviledge of driving (and it is a priviledge not a right) gets delayed 30 days.  This should also save me $5k in auto insurance for the unforeseeable future.

Privacy is an interesting concept these days.  I am going to respect my children's privacy at the moment and not share their current status of naughtiness.  But there is no part of their life that I am not going to insert myself.  I demanded a phone recently and asked for code to be put in so I could view what was going on immediately.  Yea, there was a little smoke that made me take this step (or as my friend and I like to equate it to as "terrorist chatter"), but again what you see will really open your eyes.  When my peeps pay for their stuff - they own it, until then - it's mine and my job to check what they are doing with the serious intention of saving them from themselves and I promise I am not being over dramatic.  What happened to the theory that you shouldn't post something that an employer would want to see - that applied to Facebook after it was out for a bit, but doesn't seem to have made the leap over in the many other ways to share these days. 

Oh boy, the joys of social media for me.  I love Facebook as do probably most women over 40.  It is such an easy way to feel connected and in touch with friends that have spanned the decades with me.  I loved my trip to LA, sharing pics of celebrities, and finally the purchase of my new bike.  If you feel like I overshared you can choice to not receive my feeds = perfect!  Join me in enjoying technology, but not being afraid to dig in and face life's truths.  It takes a village.........