Mom Needs Tech Too

So this week I've been reading in the news all kinds about opportunities for New Brunswickers for employment. Of all those opportunities I've read the most common denominator is, you guessed it, Technology.  I've got a Son that is heading to College in the fall he's been accepted into Auto Repair but in the back of his head he's asking himself, "should I go into technology instead?"

Auto Repair is always needed but so to is technology. Cars are no longer just moving parts and a combustion engine, they are computers and codes and safety features that run almost exclusively through chips and fuses and electrical.  I can't even start my husband's car without pushing a button. There is no more key for his car. My fob's battery is dead, I have to take his fob with me to open/lock/start his car. How will my college bound son get through his job without computer knowledge? Or will that knowledge be so narrow and product specific that it leaves him only working for one car company?

My middle son is 15, almost all his friends are inside his computer. He does moderation and Sys Admin from his own computer for others playing Minecraft. They are all helping each other to figure out how things work and what they can do next. All my sons excel with 4(stupid grading system) in Tech in school. They excel because they are not afraid of technology. They love it. They do not want to be what my Hubbie (Also IT guy) calls "end users."  I am an end user .Plug and play baby!

My youngest son, well he's 12, & I think I worry about how he uses technology the most. He got a DS when he was 7. I had made the rule of 7 and that was fine he waited but I guess in my comfort in what my oldest two knew about technology I forgot to point out the rules. He's watched his brothers us technology for everything! I don't even think he knows how to write a paper for school without typing it.

Then there is me, the Mom. Social Media is my thing, I LOVE it. I got married at 22 and moved away from home. I dated my Hubbie(DH**) using a computer, we bought out house over the internet, we used computers to chat with our friends and family from afar. I did all my parenting using newsgroups* and Yahoo Groups* and blogs because it helped me to feel not so alone in how I did things or how I could help others. I helped moderate Breastfeeding groups,and Mom groups and owned a few too. Facebook and Twitter added to that, but there are times I am still a 12:00 flasher when it comes to technology.



 My VCR or digital thermostats are still set to Standard time vs the DLS time we are supposed to be in now. How will I learn these new skills without saying "oh Son! can you come to supper tonight?, oh and while you're here can you change the clocks?" I've turned into my Mom then again Mom maybe ahead of me she went to the local library and took a FB course.



*these groups are still active and we still chat in a place that isn't FB groups. I can be slow to change. 

**does anyone still use these multi-use acronyms 

Getting Our Spring On

Happy First Day of Spring. Yes really it is spring, I know you can't tell but it is. I saw a bird fly by, I suspect that she is building a nest. She was in a rush I didn't ask where she didn't see to have time for me today. I'll keep a watch. 

The Chairs are busy waiting for spring in their yard. It really is their yard all winter. Without a spot to slide or skate the people aren't doing anything back there for 6months of the year. Snow is too deep, sun is not strong enough and the pool is just sitting. I'm excited for Spring to heat up back there. I really enjoy my back yard in the warmer months. 

Chairity and Chairold not Springing into Action today.

Flashback Friday!

Remember when? Christmas was about going to church, coming home going to sleep and never really being asleep?

When my first Brother and I were 11 and 10, we got up at 2am and found 1 gift that he got from Santa. It was a Chinese Checkers Board. We were obsessed with the game when we went to visit my grandmothers house on Sundays, we'd play against our Grandfather or Grandmother or our Aunts and uncles and cousins. We played and played everytime we visited. (which was like once a week atleast) So when we saw this game under the tree, we squirreled it away into my brother room and we played all night until 6am when we got couldn't contain the excitement any longer and went and woke up our little sister so she would wake up Mom and Dad.

Remember when, the last week before Christmas was time to decorate and finish up the shopping?

Remember when you would line up to go see Santa one last time just to be sure he didn't forget what you wrote him in that letter last week? You knew he had lots of letters, you really didn't want to get yours lost in the pile.

Remember when you would go to the see Santa at the local fire station (it was the biggest red/yellow truck available) and bring home a bag of candy? this stuff

*santascribe photo found on google

Remember when every classroom had a Christmas Tree from Primary to Grade 6?

Remember singing in a Christmas Concert at night? Or reading your prewritten part, because you didn't get picked to sing (please mouth the words).

Remember going door to door singing? but it wasn't singing to houses, you went singing to the Downtown stores instead which got really cold really quick?

What do you Remember from Christmas gone by? Have you kept any of those traditions or has time taken the innocence away?