Land o'Lessa

So, we haven’t put up pictures of the monster for a while, and the cat let her hold him so… (DUCKS)

OK, so remember when he was small and cute? Like this?

Yeah. He’s not so little anymore. And thinks he’s Top Dog. Thing is, he’s right. *L* Here’s Ace, 2 years old and, well, not so little anymore…

But still cute. And pretty tolerant of the Pup’s whims…

Just…. large. Very, very large. Anna’s no slouch either, but she’s no where as big, or as tolerant, as our Top Dog Tom Cat, Ace. Now you understand why the dog is so submissive to the big lug, don’tcha?! *grins*

I wonder if my kids are going to be as opinionated as I am. I want them to be opinionated, and decisive, and willing to stand up for their beliefs. I want them not to worry about what other people think, but what they, themselves think, and to make up their own minds. I worry that I might not be instilling that properly, but then…

Then I get proof that yes, yes they are independent, opinionated little shits – with the added benefit of making me laugh, too!

For instance, a paper that the Pup wrote last week about the Iditarod Dog Sled Race (please note, this is a direct copy – all misspellings are hers.):

I would love to race in the Iditarod becaus I love dogs But it would be hard becaus of the entense whther but I still whant to. I think i’d be fun ecsept the whther. I dont get whiy some wone whould not whant to. well I think its graet and I dont care if you dont. so if you dont then so what. The End.*

I sense the next great blogger in our midst…
She got a B on the paper, by the way. *g*

*Translation if needed: I would love to race in the Iditarod because I love dogs, but it would be hard because of the intense weather but I still want to. I think it’d be fun except the weather. I don’t get why some one would not want to. Well, I think it’s great and I don’t care if you don’t. So if you don’t, then so what! The end.

So, we’ve talked a little about social media, Myspace in particular, and your teens here before, and I realize that not everyone has the kind of relationship with their teenagers (or tweens) that I do, and are a bit uncomfortable with opening up the discussions on how to be safe while online with your kids. No judgment here, it is what it is! Sometimes those little mini-clone buggers of ours can be near impossible to talk to, what with the rolling of the eyes and the “OH MAH GAWD MOM!” and “I KNOW ALREADY” and such that they tend to pop off with – sometimes ya feel you need a suit of armor just to find out what they might like for dinner. It’s ok, I’m there with ya.

Knowing this, when Ami hit me up and asked if I’d do an article on their site, NSTeens.org, I agreed at once. And then waited a couple days until after the finale of Big Brother because omg so much work and also GO RENEGADES! – but hey! I’m here now! (grin)

Anyway, NSTeens is a valuable site that will help open up those conversations with fun, colorful cartoons and good sense, giving you the opening through the piercing ‘I hate everything you stand for’ glare, when talking to your tween and teens about how much information is too much, and how to ensure that they are safe online. NSTeens also covers the issue of Cyber-bullying, which is on the rise, because threatening or bullying someone in 156 characters or less makes you the Big Idiot On Campus.

So check out NSTeens, on your own, and then most certainly with your tween/teenager! We all know common sense isn’t all that common when it comes to our kids, so why not use everything available to help them think before they post something possibly damaging?

That’s what I figured – so check it out today!

*Images Provided by the NetSmartz Workshop at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, www.NSTeens.org.