Gobble Up Some Family Fun

#3, iRemember
by Just Add Kids Founder, Paula Herrmann


[caption id="attachment_2166" align="alignright" width="225"] #3 & BFF[/caption]

 My mission this past week, if you read last week's JAK Chat blog "iCaved. iRegret." was to dive into #3 daughter's iPhone. I really need to put my parental panties on, take a look at any damage that's been done (undesirable apps?) and apply security controls, locate device app, etc.  My intent is not to smother her or be a helicopter mom, but rather to do what a parent is suppose to do, protect her.  At the same time, I also want to cultivate a respect for her privacy.  So I dropped the ball, peeps. There really is no excuse for not getting the job done as I didn't forget to do it. I just didn't get it done. Augh! It's been a week.

If you've kept up with my life as a mom as recorded in these blog posts for the past few years, you might know, I am having a hard time watching my "littles" grow up to adults.  Read more...One of my four kids has reached adulthood numerically, having turned 18 back in January. Number two is 16. As mentioned, #3 is 11. And finally, my youngest and only son is 9 (but not for long).  For me, 0-6 months was indeed rough, yet a relatively short period of time (that would be 24 months total). It pales in comparison to parenting during the years of teenhood, and honestly, mine haven't been terribly bad. Let's define it as challenging, yet manageable.

So I didn't get my tech task done. Let's bump it back a week on the TO DO list.  But since we're on the subject of my #3, let me just say that with her transition into adolescence, I know what I'm in for....ME! She's a mini-me (with an iPhone). Which isn't really all that bad, yet she is and will be ready to do battle as she marches confidently on into her teen years. She is/will be open to trying new things, headstrong, curious, cautious, and I am pretty sure she'll beat me up (I'll be waiting up late for her, she'll do things she knows her dad and I won't approve of, I'll question her dress, she'll be right all of the time). But in the end, I know she will turn out just fine. She's got the deck stacked in her favor.

[caption id="attachment_2167" align="alignleft" width="300"] #3 as Tiny Tim Dec '09[/caption]

This week, myself and JAK Happenings "Calendar Mom", Shannon, worked our butts off to add a whole ton of holiday family fun to our website's calendar. My area of concentration was the region's kid-oriented, family-friendly holiday shows/productions. One of which will always remain my all time favorite is The Milwaukee Rep's "A Christmas Carol" who as I type is performing their opening night of a month long run. It's only been 4 short years ago, that I was the mother of that production's Tiny Tim. Yup, that's right, played by #3. A young aspiring actor at the age of 7 immersed into the fast-paced world of the 2nd longest running "A Christmas Carol" in the country. Funny, she had to get her hair cut very short to play a boy in this show. Today, there would be NO WAY we could cut inches off of her long locks reaching down past her waistline. She's very conscious of her looks and has her unique sense of fashion.  Headstrong. That's for sure. And again, oh so me. And it's only just begun.

Note to self: #3 iPhone.