Technology Overload

I am raising a middle schooler and with that comes social networking, phones and technology overload.  All those who are raising sweet elementary school age children right now, enjoy it, your time is coming!  Here's the thing with technology and kids, it's yet another full time job and responsibility for parents.  Mike has all of Jay's texts come into his email so we can monitor what is going on.  In addition I'm watching his Instagram account daily and even with all that there is probably a few things here and there that I miss.  I often joke with my mom that it's a good thing she got my sister and I raised in the 80's because I would have been all over this social networking and smart phones when I was a middle schooler.  The best technological advance that happened to me was call waiting!  I even used a word processer in college to type my papers and I'm not that old.  That is just how fast technology has taken off.  As I navigate my way through this season in my life with Jay I do find the humor in it.  Yesterday Jay was home alone for a bit.  I told him he could have two scoops of ice cream.  Later that same day I checked his Instagram and found that he took a picture of myself holding the bucket of ice cream with a headline under the picture that read, "My mom told me I could have two scoops of ice cream but I don't care."  I immediately replied with, "Two Scoops, Jay, I'm watching you."  He shot back with, "I'm just kidding, mom."  Busted, Jay!  The good news is middle schoolers screw up, make dumb decisions and they are all up in everyone's business, there isn't much we as parents should miss.  Gone are the days of whispering sweet nothings over the phone.  Instead those sweet nothings come over texts for everyone to see.  Oh boy!