In my children’s high-tech world, life is about the gadgets. In the Larson house, these gadgets remain rites of passage, but the boys still eventually earn the privilege of owning a cell phone and creating a Facebook account. There are days that I wonder how I survived the teen years without them.
I still wonder how my parents survived letting me drive myself back and forth from Vassar to Topeka or Vassar to Lawrence with little more than a dime in my pocket (later a quarter) for a pay phone. To be honest, my dad always insisted I have more than the dime or quarter. Usually he’d hand me $10 in emergency cash.
My dad reminds me that, although we didn’t have cell phones, my parents both had CB radios in their vehicles for the daily commute and all of us knew how to use them.
As for Facebook, I’m amazed that I entered the social networking world before any of my boys. Facebook originally was created for college students to keep in touch with each other. It later expanded to high school students before opening up to everyone.
I originally joined Facebook for professional reasons. It was a way to link with other members of Kansas Professional Communicators. Later, I added members of National Federation of Press Women whom I’d met from other states. In fact, I opened my Facebook account about six months before my oldest son opened his.
Eventually, Greg logged on and, when he graduated eighth grade, Luke joined the crowd. Although Facebook allows members age 13 and up (and, yes, many kids just lie about their birth date to open accounts earlier), in our house Facebook accounts are tied to high school. So, once a Larson boy has graduated eighth grade, they can open an account. Luke joined the morning of his eighth-grade graduation.
I’ve discovered that we all use our accounts differently.
Alex prefers the games. In fact, he’s got hundreds of friends on his account, but many of them have come from Mafia Wars and other games that build on networks. Luke, too, enjoys the games, but he is more social. He’ll post comments on friend’s walls, take quirky online quizzes and join a myriad of odd groups like “On 12/21/2012 I’m not doing my homework; excuse will be ‘I thought I’d die.’”
Greg likes to game, but, like me, he’s found old friends on Facebook. We’ve both reconnected with high school classmates and college roommates. We also link to friends of our children and other parents.
That, in fact, is where I’ve discovered real value.
I realized long ago that sons don’t care to dish the way daughters do. Once I left home, I talked to my mom nearly every day. I expect I’ll be lucky to get a text message once a month from my boys when they move out (and finally get texting on their cell phone accounts).
But, with Facebook, I can keep tabs on what’s happening in their lives. Sometimes it’s a post by a friend. Just this weekend, I discovered that Luke gave an oral report in English class that tied a study of mythology. I knew he’d been working on a report, but, thanks to a Brittney’s photos on Facebook, I saw Luke and his classmates in action.
My most valuable use of Facebook recently, however, came when I changed my status to “Gwen Tompkins Larson is searching for the perfect hot pink and white ties. Can you tell winter ball is around the corner?”
Instantly other moms did what we’ve always done best — they tried to help. Almost immediately came offers to search their sons’ closets for ties they had along with pleas for the colors they were looking for.
I’ve seen other friends put out calls for babysitters. And many of us have shared favorite recipes.
The concept isn’t new.
When I was a teenager, moms talked at ballgames and at the office about where to shop for prom dresses. They shared recipes at potluck dinners and reached out to friends for babysitting help just as we do today.
Facebook just makes it easier to connect with a larger village.