Why Mom Is On Social Media

I've written before about how much fun I'm having with the DonateAPhoto app (you can read about it here), so recently I took the plunge and joined Instagram. (my user name is momscrayon). When I told my 14 year old about it, he asked, “Why does my Mom need more social media than me?” Excellent question, Kid!

First of all, no one needs social media in the sense that, we can survive, physically, without it. Those of us who lived through a natural disaster like a hurricane or tornado, something which knocks out electricity, know that. But for someone who writes for a living, having many venues to showcase my work is important. At present, I'm on Twitter, Facebook, Bloglovin, and now, Instagram, so it's easy to see what I do and sponsors look for you to be on multiple sites.  

Second, you see your friends almost every day. You Skype with them for hours at a time and have plenty of social interaction. I work from home where the only individual I see regularly is the mailman. He's a nice guy, but I think he's getting tired of hearing me blabber on; I mean, the guy has a job to do.  Social contact is important for everyone and social media allows me to have a modicum  of that.

Third, I get quite a bit of my news from Twitter. I learn maintain contact with friends, close and far, via Facebook. Now, I'm getting a visual glimpse into various worlds via Instagram. As you know, the Web is contains a universe of data and it's important to stay current on local and world events. 

Lastly, you, my friend, are 14. You are still developing the social radar you'll need to determine who might be a threat, what you should/should not say, what to believe and what to discount, whether information is valid, etc. You have nothing to sell, no agenda to promote. Your world is largely contained to our house, neighborhood, and town. There is NO reason you need to be spreading yourself around on social media. Your book is unwritten, your time has not yet come.

Do I need social media? Professionally and from an information standpoint, I do. From an social perspective, less so; but it's useful. Someday, I will be gone from this planet.

At some point, you may want to review my digital footprint to learn more about who I was while you were growing up, to touch me, virtually, when I am not here. Then, my beloved son, you will be happy that I was on social media. 

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Quotes About Those Tornadoes Of Nature Known As Teens

Attribution: Justin 1569 at en.wikipedia

My family was wandering through a few shops this weekend, when I spotted the following sign: Warning For Those With Heart Conditions: Teenager On The Premises. My son saw me giggling at it and said, “Thanks, Mom.” I thought it was a fantastic warning, since having a teenager in the house is kind of like having a smoldering fire around at all times; you never know when or where his temper or emotions will flare up.

So I decided to scour the web for other quotes which might amuse me and those of you who know, all-too-well, the dangers of living with a teen. Here are some of my favorites with attributions where I could find them:

• “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished by how much he'd learned in seven years.” (Mark Twain)
• “Adolescence is perhaps nature's way of preparing parents to welcome the empty nest.” (Karen Savage and Patricia Adams, The Good Stepmother)
• “A teen brain is 80% song lyrics.”
• “Why do they rate a movie 'R” for adult language? The only people I hear using that language are teenagers. (Which brings up an amusing conversation I had with my son. He recently told me, laughing, that the 7^th graders in his school curse so much. “Mom,” he said, “they're so immature!”
• “Someone told me I was immature. Guess who's not allowed in my tree-house now?”
• “Adolescence is a period of rapid changes. Between the ages of 12 and 17, for example, a parent ages as much as 20 years.”
• “A babysitter is a teenager acting like an adult while the adults are out acting like teenagers.”
• “It's difficult to decide whether growing pains are something teenagers have — or are.”
• “At sixteen, the adolescent knows about suffering because he himself has suffered, but he barely knows that other beings also suffer.” (Jean-Jacques Rousseau)
• “A teenager is someone who is well-prepared for a zombie attack, but not ready for tomorrow's math quiz.”
• “Teenagers who are never required to vacuum are living in one.” (Fred G. Gosman)
• “You can tell a child is growing up when he stops asking where he came from and starts refusing to tell where he is going.”

And let's not forget this memorable quote from my son who said to his menopausal mom, “It feels like we're both going through adolescence.” He hit the nail right on the head.  Love that kid!

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