Electronic Rehab
My son is going to summer camp in about two weeks. We are running off to the store in about an hour to pick up some new jeans for him. He likes to walk on the back of the hem and it makes me crazy. It’s his business I suppose, but I don’t want those people at camp to think that I allow him to walk around like that; I tolerate it for casual purposes only!
This is a 10 day camp. No electronics allowed! At first I thought he would die when I told him that they will make him check his cell phone in and he will only be allowed to use it for 30 minutes a day. No internet, no television, no iPods………nada…. he is going to have to detox off of electronics. He is suppose to be there to be at camp not somewhere else.
I don’t even know what he looks like without ear buds on, so this is really going to be strange when I pick him up. I am hoping that I will recognize him without his electronic charge.
We were talking about it and I had to explain to him was “beepers” were and phone machines with tapes. We even googled 8 tracks and he was amazed! I told him that in the “olden days” we had to wait to get home and play back our messages.
Then I got to thinking about my electronic choke chain. I feel so disconnected when I am without my cell phone. In truth my cell phone disconnects me from my “now” and takes me to everyone else’s “now.” I am thinking that this is the greatest invention ever, and then I think about how the world survived quite well without them.
So, my dear friends, today I am only checking my cell phone for messages once a day. I am setting a certain hour to return calls for a one hour time frame for an entire month just to prove to my son that this can be done. This is sort of like shaving your head when your girlfriend gets cancer in support of her. I am detoxing from my cell phone. I am going to join my son in electronic rehab.
Leave a message after the beep………………….BEEP!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
My son wants to shave his legs
It was 114 in my backyard the other day. Don’t pay attention to the number because it is”Dry Heat” so it doesn’t count. My son is wearing long pants and I ask him if he would be more comfortable if he changes into shorts. He says that he looks weird in shorts because you can see the hair on his legs. Duh? Did I miss something? Even babies have fine little hairs on their legs? Can you imagine them squealing about someone noticing?
He explains to me that all the kids shave their legs and he probably should too. My son will be 16 in two weeks. I think my mom told that I could not shave my legs till I was 16 but is there an age for boys? What did I just ask myself (smack), stop it! I almost followed “but all the kids are doing it” and understanding his situation and forgetting that it’s not my job to be his friend, I am his parent. He doesn’t have to like me right now, I have to teach him how to survive, how to look at a situation and “think” not follow. Use some reasoning skills. Halfway down the hallway, I took a U-turn and returned my shaver back to the shower.
I had to have a conversation about what he wants and is comfortable with and that is more important than making everyone else comfortable or fitting in. I understand you want to fit in, but you need to fit yourself first because you might need to find your way back home after you do all this following.
I seriously do not get young boys shaving their legs in middle and high school. I don’t get parents letting 12 year olds pierce their belly button either, call me old school. My thoughts on this is that the kids are spending more time paying attention to the other kids and what they are wearing and doing than real things like their families, education, themselves, their future………all their thoughts are paying attention to everyone else, it is like the embryonic stage of another “People Magazine” it trains their brain to look external instead of internal.
I know there are plenty of you out there that have had parental conflicts and parents that are having conflicts with their children over certain things, and I really don’t want to make a battle over this but I think if you do anything you better have a better reason for doing it than “everyone else does it” without a really good reason why this benefits you or life in general.
I am not going to be around forever and always and I just want him equipped with a brain that actually functions, I need to de-sheep his brain out of the following mode.
He decided not to shave his legs but wanted some hair wax so he can style his hair like Elvis Presley. It has brought back my faith that people do want to do better if someone will just show them the path which is hard to find because few people walk it and it is not worn out and obvious. You really have to want it.
XOXOXOX
Karla
He explains to me that all the kids shave their legs and he probably should too. My son will be 16 in two weeks. I think my mom told that I could not shave my legs till I was 16 but is there an age for boys? What did I just ask myself (smack), stop it! I almost followed “but all the kids are doing it” and understanding his situation and forgetting that it’s not my job to be his friend, I am his parent. He doesn’t have to like me right now, I have to teach him how to survive, how to look at a situation and “think” not follow. Use some reasoning skills. Halfway down the hallway, I took a U-turn and returned my shaver back to the shower.
I had to have a conversation about what he wants and is comfortable with and that is more important than making everyone else comfortable or fitting in. I understand you want to fit in, but you need to fit yourself first because you might need to find your way back home after you do all this following.
I seriously do not get young boys shaving their legs in middle and high school. I don’t get parents letting 12 year olds pierce their belly button either, call me old school. My thoughts on this is that the kids are spending more time paying attention to the other kids and what they are wearing and doing than real things like their families, education, themselves, their future………all their thoughts are paying attention to everyone else, it is like the embryonic stage of another “People Magazine” it trains their brain to look external instead of internal.
I know there are plenty of you out there that have had parental conflicts and parents that are having conflicts with their children over certain things, and I really don’t want to make a battle over this but I think if you do anything you better have a better reason for doing it than “everyone else does it” without a really good reason why this benefits you or life in general.
I am not going to be around forever and always and I just want him equipped with a brain that actually functions, I need to de-sheep his brain out of the following mode.
He decided not to shave his legs but wanted some hair wax so he can style his hair like Elvis Presley. It has brought back my faith that people do want to do better if someone will just show them the path which is hard to find because few people walk it and it is not worn out and obvious. You really have to want it.
XOXOXOX
Karla
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Electronic Vultures
It was 109 here yesterday. I am not complaining because I have lived here for so long that I no longer have illusions of cool summers. Summers are hot that is why they are in the summer. I have become the deluxe edition of reality.
I take a little break from the heat every few weeks. I live indoors almost the entire summer otherwise. We recently went to the beach over in California. We stayed in Venice Beach. It is a really cool place. The sidewalks are jammed with different flavors. It is a huge people buffet.
As the sun set, my son and I walked on the beach. Perfect day! That cool breeze that carries fresh air and then I looked down. The remnants of people that have received their annual dose of sunburn ravaged the coast. Single shoes, sand drenched knotted towels, abandoned buckets that once built a castle and electronic vultures! I think the electronic vultures outnumbered the seagulls.
I have seen the commercials on television of how easy it is to find treasure, but somehow this person pushing the keys and writing this just doesn't think it is lucky to find other people possessions as a hobby. I guess I am not looking to get "lucky."
What is an electronic vulture? They scan the beach right as the sun sets with their metal detectors looking for "hidden treasure" that the people have left during the day. Things lost in the sand. I wonder why someone would keep a lost wedding ring or what they do with those car keys that they find. I am thinking that there is a difference between something being abandoned and something being lost that the owner could retrieve if they could. I am thinking that it is one thing to do this as a "look and see" but these people out there are pretty serious about what they are doing and there were over 20 when I stopped counting. I would be a lousy pirate because I would return the treasure once found. I would use the metal detector for those that have lost something in the sand, not to get "lucky."
I can only speak for myself. Does anyone know anyone that does this?
I take a little break from the heat every few weeks. I live indoors almost the entire summer otherwise. We recently went to the beach over in California. We stayed in Venice Beach. It is a really cool place. The sidewalks are jammed with different flavors. It is a huge people buffet.
As the sun set, my son and I walked on the beach. Perfect day! That cool breeze that carries fresh air and then I looked down. The remnants of people that have received their annual dose of sunburn ravaged the coast. Single shoes, sand drenched knotted towels, abandoned buckets that once built a castle and electronic vultures! I think the electronic vultures outnumbered the seagulls.
I have seen the commercials on television of how easy it is to find treasure, but somehow this person pushing the keys and writing this just doesn't think it is lucky to find other people possessions as a hobby. I guess I am not looking to get "lucky."
What is an electronic vulture? They scan the beach right as the sun sets with their metal detectors looking for "hidden treasure" that the people have left during the day. Things lost in the sand. I wonder why someone would keep a lost wedding ring or what they do with those car keys that they find. I am thinking that there is a difference between something being abandoned and something being lost that the owner could retrieve if they could. I am thinking that it is one thing to do this as a "look and see" but these people out there are pretty serious about what they are doing and there were over 20 when I stopped counting. I would be a lousy pirate because I would return the treasure once found. I would use the metal detector for those that have lost something in the sand, not to get "lucky."
I can only speak for myself. Does anyone know anyone that does this?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
