Video Wednesday

Our story continues . . .

Yes, I love technology/But not as much as you, you see .. .

I think it quite literally is the truth – technology saved my teenager’s summer.

Let me explain.

Summer in Phoenix is like winter in Minnesota. People tend to hunker down indoors, just venturing out for the necessities. Parks are inhospitable and it’s hard to find good places to meet. People go to more pleasant climes, if they can afford it. If not, they just have to wait it out.

With all of the vacations and the lack of a suitable meeting place, it’s really hard for the teens to get together for the summer. My now-teenaged son is inconsolable when he can’t see his friends several times a week. Luckily, one mom who’s a member of the “local” teen homeschooling group (I use the quotation marks because the group meets a long way from my home) put together a Ning group that’s a lot like Facebook, but is a little more controlled. Then, for my son’s thirteenth birthday, my husband and I let him have his own Facebook account (just like all his friends). While my teenager has not been able to see his friends much this summer, his whining about this fact is almost non-existent. He “talks” to and “sees” his friends on a daily basis. I think he probably checks the computer 3 times a day and that has seemed to do the trick.

Now, I think if he thought summer would never end, we would have a problem, but he seems to be o.k. with a summer of cyber-friendships. I check and control his activities and access to these sites, but it seems to be working for him.

Drama class starts again in a little over a week. Hockey practice will start next month. And we should be able to start park days by mid-October at the latest. All should be right with the homeschooling world shortly, but we’ve managed to weather the summer quite well.

(And no, my son and his friends aren't quite like the boys in the previous post, but that video is certainly not that far-fetched.)

Video Wednesday

NO! I haven't posted since February? No way.

Well . . . maybe. You see, I have been kind of busy. You know, three kids, homeschooling, etc.

And no, I don't think it's cheating to start again with a Video Wednesday. I have a point to make, but I'm going to make it in the next post.

Promise.

Anyway, enjoy.