Into the blog world with Zac

My son started his own blog this week, its called “Zac Wonders”. He is very excited about it and it is encouraging him to write about things he thinks about. I am acting as his editor. He loves to take photos, so this has been a good way for him to use digital photography and digital story telling software as tools. This makes me realize how important it is to help our kids how to navigate their digital culture.
Kids today have so many choices on how and with whom to communicate. They also have more choices than I ever did on where they can travel-virtually that is. One of my jobs as a parent of 3 daughters who were pre-teens as the social media craze took off back in the 90’s was to protect them from this digital world that was invading our world. It was scary to me! Who are they talking with? Back then I remember they had their home phone still stuck to one ear, while they sat in front of our computer monitor that was stationed in the loft area of our upstairs hallway. As a parent, I always knew when they were on the computer and would supervise by walking around and checking out what they would be writing, etc. Yes, there were a few times when they had to be barred from the internet, due to breaking important rules such as: keeping up with homework for example.

Today, this scenario has changed in my home in the following ways: the computer monitor still sits in the hallway; but no one ever uses it, because everyone in our house now owns their own laptop. This creates a new challenge: how or when to monitor? Thankfully, I only have one child left for which this is a concern. My youngest daughter who still lives at home is old enough that I rely on her wisdom. My son however, must ask permission when he wants to use his laptop. Right now, it is mostly for playing online games with his cousin. He has been able to Skype with his cousins from Houston, playing Scattegories with them and with family when he has gone away on vacation. For him, this is not a novelty, as it is for me. One other thing that has changed is that land phones are practically non existent anymore. We have a portable phone upstairs that only my son uses. The rest of us use our cell phones. My almost 20 year old daughter doesn’t talk on the phone, she texts almost everyone. Problem is, with whom is she texting? But as I said, she is now past the age where I can control that anymore. This is why my son is not yet an owner of a cell phone. Of course, he has reminded us many times how horrible we are as parents (unlike his friend’s parents) who allow their children to have their own cell phones. Hey, this pressure existed before cell phones…there is always something other parents get their kids that our kids won’t get-so this doesn’t really affect my parental self esteem at all.

Back to Zac’s blog: so this will be new territory for me too. He and I are both learning, just like I learned about the social media networks along with my daughters. Today I don’t find social networking sites so scary, in fact, it is how I communicate daily with my daughters. I know the limits and am aware of how important it is to manage my online persona so that it doesn’t control me. This is what I need to model for my child. This is the challenge for all us parents and teachers-that we have a responsibility not only to monitor what our kids do but to walk with them into the digital world hand in hand.

Our own struggle for freedom

Yesterday, all day I sat riveted to my TV screen watching the people of Egypt celebrate in the streets the fact that their 30 year dictator is gone from office. They now for the first time in a long time have hope that they may be able to control the future of their country. This incredible moment made me think of the history of Egypt, as taught to me through the Bible stories I learned as a young girl in Catholic school, the readings at Mass, and later my own faith formation as an adult. I couldn’t help but think of the story of those Jews who were held as slaves by the Egyptian pharaohs and were put to work to build the pyramids, I thought of the story of Moses and the Hebrew people crossing the Nile and wondered if their jubilee was just as intense, if the same kinds of dancing and prancing were experienced by those ancient peoples once they realized that they were now free. I also couldn’t help but think of my own history; my own exile from my birth country. The excitement I felt when I touched USA soil, (OK, it was snow when I landed) and realized I was in a foreign land. The hugs and banquet that awaited me in my family’s homes (food that was uncomfortable to eat and family’s faces that reflected eyes of many different colors I had never seen, skin tones and hair color so unlike my own) and yet, I remember the joy and sense of freedom I was breathing as something to be thrilled about. I also was thinking of how I had to leave behind a past that I would not ever experience again, even if I could go back. I knew that my life had changed in a big way.

This is what the Egyptian people experienced yesterday. Their life changed in a big way and no matter what, it can never be what it was in the past. What the future holds in store for them may create new anxieties, new experiences, new interactions.

However, there is a renewed hope in knowing that now they are in charge of their destiny.

This struggle for freedom is what is happening all over the world, and has been happening, since the beginning of time. The dilemma of the human race is that if we are not careful we may take for granted those basic rights that we instinctively desire.

Yesterday was a reminder that I should celebrate with the Egyptian people and remember that like them, I too am part of the human community and our human dignity is only fully realized in a community that strives to bring good about. The future is still a big question mark for Egypt, but I have faith and hope that goodness will prevail. How have you experienced a struggle for freedom?  What were you thinking when you saw the Egyptian people dancing in the streets?

This is something I found that I have enjoyed reflecting on lately:

The Paradoxical Commanments-by Dr. Kent M. Keith

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self centered-Love them anywyay.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives-do good anyway.
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies-succeed anyway.
The good you today will be forgotten tomorrow-do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable-be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds-think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs-fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend a few years building may be destroyed overnight-
build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them-help them anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth-give the world the best you have anyway.