More than a decade in the digital world
2015 marks 13 years of my foray into the digital world. Sure, I took an HTML course in college. But I really jumped feet first into this world 13 years ago thanks to the impending arrival of my son. My in-laws gave my husband and I our first digital camera so I could document their grandchild. I decided I would launch a Geocities website to tell our child's story for the grandparents. It was especially important to me because my brother was just starting a three-year stint in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic. I didn't want him to miss a thing about his first nephew. Fast forward 13 years later, this digital world has grow beyond sharing online to a small collection of family members. I tell my stories about how I use the web to people across the country. I get to teach, encourage digital literacy across the generations and I get to raise two awesome kids who respect how connected we all are with people around the world.
It's a bit mind bending when I just sit here and think about the last 13 years. Raising a digital kid is something I'm figuring out as I go. I manage my son's access to apps and our family uses Life360 to stay in touch with each other. "The boy" (as we fondly call him) loves to play games on any platform he can get ahold of them. He is a natural when it comes to technology, but he's worried about failing. I'm working on helping him get more comfortable trying new tech and figuring out how failing is often the best way to learn. Once he gets past that hump, I see him rocking some awesome visions of 3D printed tools, podcasting his very opinionated views of books and movies and launching who-knows-what in the future. His brain and creativity is bound to go far. I'm honored to be his mom and I'm so glad he's the reason I really launched myself into a digital world. The boy is guiding me as I guide him. It's pretty awesome.
teenager-parenting-digital-age
So, as of today, I am the parent of a teenager. It's going to take me a while to get used to that concept. I guess the boy will need to help me ride that new experience as well. (Happy birthday!)