Over the last few months, I have written extensively in the blog (some would say ad nauseum) about the over-abundance of technology used these days. I criticize the schools for laptops, The Husband for the blackberry, The Boy for wanting a cell phone, Big Sister for facebooking...and on and on. Well, this weekend, I was shoved off my high-horse....Let me explain.
I picked up the kids from school and we headed to our old neighborhood to pick up Little One's old BFF. This little girl was her friend from preschool to, well, whenever we moved here a few years ago. They were very close, but hadn't seen each other in 2 years, mainly due to me being a bad mommy. Little one always asked about her, but the distance (an hour) just always seemed to make any connections impossible. Easy for me to say, since I stay in touch with her mom, who is one of my best friends. We don't see each other as often as I would like, but we....talk on our cell phones during afternoon pick-up time, e-mail...and even facebook. She reads the blog and comments often....so all in all, we are able to keep in touch due to technology, right?
Anyway, it occurred to me on the way to pick her up that maybe after 2 years, things might have changed. Maybe the anticipation had been better than the weekend would be. But happily, after 2 minutes together in the car, I was proved wrong. They discovered within 5 minutes that they both loved Selena Gomez, the colors green and yellow...and they both no longer had bangs!!! Could they be twins?...separated at birth??....No, The Boy patiently replied, they couldn't...different parents...and he looked at me with the knowing "look" that only The Boy can give me....
So we started a lovely weekend. We arrived at Grandma's house, unloaded the dog, unpacked the bags, plugged in the laptop....and what??? No connection?? Ok, well, there had been storms. Maybe it was just off for awhile. We ate dinner, went swimming, played outside...and tried again. Still no connection. I started to get that anxious feeling you get when....well, I don't know. Just that feeling that I wanted to "be on". I had no work to do...no blog to write...no e-mail to respond to.....but look....I Wanted To Get ON!!! I called Big Sister who lives in the same neighborhood and asked if her laptop was down....nope, good to go. SIL even got on the phone (and I should have been ashamed to have him do this, as this is what he does all day at work) and tried to talk me through some strategies to make it work...but to no avail. The Husband had already abandoned us and gone back to work...because he cannot be without his internet access. So there I was on a Friday night, with no access to "surfing". A tragedy. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I remembered complaining about our dependence on this stuff. The word "hypocrite" crept into my mind.... but I pushed that thought away. Thankfully, I had saved the new fall Vogue, all 600 pages. So The Boy settled for the Braves Game, the Little One and BFF watched a Selena Gomez movie, The Husband watched the Little League World Series....and I disappeared into the land of Vogue...
The next morning, The Husband summoned a "techie" to see what was up.....and low and behold...it was bad news. A "fried modem". Now I have no clue as to what this is...but I heard the words "I'll replace it Monday morning"...and my heart sank. Two more days without my "access". The Husband, seeing my face, offered to take me to his office, but I couldn't just abandon the kids....so I gave up. There would be no surfing, no shopping, no e-mailing, no facebooking....I would be forced to live in the real world.
It was actually a wonderful weekend. Little One and BFF played together like they had never been apart, and I found myself promising to set up an e-mail account for Little One when we got home so they could keep in touch...because after all, what is good for the goose is good for the gander...if I could keep up with my friends that way, so could she.
We packed up and headed home on Sunday, and as soon as we got home, I immediately 'booted up"...and nothing. Thankfully, The Husband worked his magic, and I was on!! 51 emails! 7 facebook notifications! 10 shopping alerts! Oh the joy!....But the first thing I did was create a kid's account for Little One, who immediately launched an e-mail to the weekend BFF. And she was immediately met with a sweet response, declaring in big pink letters, that the weekend had been "Great!!". I was so happy for both of them, because now, due to that monster of technology, they will be able to chat in the evening about school and Selena, and even plan another weekend.
Big Sister e-mailed me that she was "cutting the facebook cord". 650 friends had become too many to keep up with...too much drama. She had tried merely deleting some names...but there had been upheaval and more drama. So she got out all together....how long can it last???How will she communicate with her friends during the day? How will she make fun of my blog? How will she joke with The Niece...and the list goes on and on.....I think we will see her back soon....under a new, perhaps "secret" name....
So until tomorrow, when I promise to refrain from technology-bashing for at least a month...but The Boy should take no solace from this...for there will still be no cell phones until there is a name on the honor roll...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
That is cute about Gabrielle & Gabby! I wondered how they would do after not seeing one another for quite awhile. It's a sign of a true friend when you can pick up after that time and it's like nothing has changed:). In answer to your question:
1) My real friends and I either phone or e-mail
2)Now, I will have to come to your site to tease you about your blog:)
3)I am really going to refrain from going back under a secret name
I read a few more articles on what face book does to us... It becomes kind of a "look how great I am doing.." kind of site. Instead of doing things I need to get done I browse what other people are doing. My goal is to do something productive everytime I start missing facebook and wanting to go back. We will see how it goes, LOL!!
Post a Comment