parenting

The Facebook “Blow-Off”

Posted on by Kelly aka LadyOTrout

Facebook has made my life simpler in some ways and complicated at the same time – during the day I can love it and hate it several times depending what is going on.  Then I guess it is not Facebook’s fault, Facebook allows me to see the good and bad in people in more of a constant barrage of information, once again it is the people not the messenger (Facebook) right?

Facebook makes it easy to feel bad that you cannot donate to every cause that people support.  Facebook makes it easy for people to invite people they hardly know to events that they would never invite them to in person, because hey, they like you, but not that much.  Facebook allows people that you “friended” in a weak moment to know what you are doing without becoming involved in your life, giving you support or feedback.  Facebook allows you to invite people (not randomly chosen), to an event many tell you they are coming and they cannot wait – then don’t show.  No call, no email note, nothing to say, “I know I RSVP’ed and you made extra reservations/food, but I cannot make it.”

So what does this tell us?  This isn’t Facebook’s fault.  We have all heard from our parents and perhaps some of us have even said it ourselves, everyday our society seems to be getting just a little more disconnected to the HUMAN side of things.  People give you the finger after they cut you off when you are driving, athletes engage in all out brawls on the fields, tracks and courts, parents post videos on YouTube of kids fighting while they cheer the fighters on.

What is this world coming to?

The other day a friend of mine and I were talking about “Random Acts of Kindness” and how good they make you feel when you do them.  She reminds her kids daily to do ONE nice thing for someone else – no matter how small it may be.  And of course we may say, “Isn’t that sad, to have to be reminded?”  But I say, “Hallelujah!  Parenting is back!”  Don’t ever take for granted what your kids may or may not know, especially when it comes to manners and it also reminds YOU of the importance of common courtesy.

I have another friend that always says, “Thank You.” Even when you aren’t sure it was required, but it is that reminder to me that I need to say it more often if I am questioning if a “Thank You,”  was necessary.  He even says it when he “Blackberry Messages” me.  And now I am making sure I do it too – it makes me feel better seeing it on the screen whether I am getting it or sending it.

Chris Brogan has been saying “Be Human” for a long time and it all sounded good to me, but I wasn’t exactly sure what it meant, the more I become involved and use Social Media tools and the more I see people I know using these tools,  I can really appreciate what “Being Human” means.

So think about doing your part today to say or do something kind for someone. And remind a young person in your life. The more chat rooms, comments on blogs, texting and “facebooking” we do, the less connected we become.  But we still ARE human and we all need to remember that.

What will you do today?

Text Messaging – What do those "words" mean?

Posted on by Kelly aka LadyOTrout

I have no children, but I do hear horror stories from my friends that have them about the text messaging phenomena. This post is not about how bad your cell phone bill is or if Johnny or Suzy got into trouble in math class because they were “text-ting” their friends.

This post is how to understand what they are saying to each other when they text. If your child tells you they cannot learn Spanish or French while their fingers are flying on the keys of their cell phones, they are just NOT motivated to learn it. Text messaging is just like a foreign language or a type of shorthand and they are motivated to learn that because there friends are all doing it and they want to be in the loop.

You don’t have to learn all the words, but wouldn’t it be good to know if your kids are talking about a party and someone’s parents leaving town? My fathers biggest fear was having to learn Aerosmith on an 8 Track, boy have things changed!!

I found a pretty neat page on internet.com that has a list of all the terms. Click here to check it out. It even includes what all the smiley (emoticons) faces mean.

But if you are looking for a word specifically, click on this link and you can type it in and it is pretty good on finding the word what means for you.

So click away and take a look, once you get the pattern it will be more natural than you think and if you really want to throw your kids for a loop, text them yourselves and keep them guessing as to how much YOU know!!