So after looking at shelves and shelves of detergents, disinfectants, shampoo, what have you…we headed for tea. I meet up with Godma frequently but rarely without Gavin. This is quite a nice breather for both of us, especially to trade gossips.
Anyway, something very funny came out of our gossips and I just have to blog about this one cos it involves… BLOGGING!
I was told that one of our common friends, Bella, is extremely busy helping her teenage son fan off secret admirers. It seems that her good looking son has a string of girls wanting to be his girlfriends. Haha. And in her bid to stay involved in her son’s life, she has started tracking not only his blog, but blogs of his friends, particularly the girls!
Apparently, she is not alone doing this. She even has the support of a community of mummies who will sound one another out if they find their children’s names mentioned in another kid’s blog. “Hey, I saw your son’s name mentioned in this blog. Here’s the address. Quick go and check what is written!”
Geez…parents these days really need to be very technologically savvy to keep track of their children. It’s a fine line between privacy and responsibility. I am sure the kids won’t like it if they know. But from a parent’s standpoint, I think this might be necessary just to know what is going on and keep your own child out of trouble.
Such a contrast too! Here I am, a crazy blogging mummy while my friend is a mummy busy tracking blogs of her kid and his friends. Well, who knows? When it is my time, I might even have to hire a professional to do the job for me. :razz:
Or you have us.. helping you to keep tab as well.
Comment by zara's mama — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 @ 1:45 pm
Hmm… Probably I cannot identify with this issue yet but your friend does come across as one very paranoid mom. I’m sure there’s a better way to get around this than sneaking on your own child.
Comment by domestic rat — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 @ 1:57 pm
I don’t think I would want to read Ophelia’s blog when she has one. It’s like reading her diary.
Comment by the diva — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 @ 3:55 pm
If Damien has a blog next time, i would have to try very hard to curb my curiosity not to read it…haha..but then again, i can understand your friends’intention..so you mean her son doesn’t know she’s reading his blog?
Comment by Eileen — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 @ 5:06 pm
That is a bit extreme to be tracking the blog. But then again once you put something on the net, it is public domain … so the kid cannot complain about invasion of privacy. If the kid does not want people to find out .. then do not post it. Otherwise, put a password on it, ala Domestic Rat. Hehe …
Comment by Loong — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 @ 6:11 pm
I would ask my kids whether they mind if I read their blogs. It’s one thing to read the blog of someone you don’t know personally but to read the blog of someone so close to you without that person knowing, somehow doesn’t seem right. Even when I blog about my kids (my main topic actually), I make sure I don’t say anything they would feel embarrassed about or they don’t want people to know.
Comment by fuzzoo — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 @ 10:02 pm
I cannot say for certain what I’ll do or won’t do in future. It depends on my kid’s character. But I’ll like to respect my kid’s privacy. So like what Fuzzoo said, I will ask for permission if I want to read. I don’t want my kid to resent me.
As for my friend, I don’t know if her kid is aware. Maybe he is. But in a sense I can understand why she’s tracking his friend’s blog. Desperate times do call for desperate measures and with today’s teens, it may be better to be safe than sorry.
However, I’ll like to stress that as parents, we do need to stay relevant. Technology, fashion, trends, fads, etc. We need to speak our kid’s lingo for them to want to communicate with us.
Comment by sesame — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 @ 8:42 am
Hmmm… If I become a parent one day, I will try VERY VERY hard to curb my curiosity by not reading coz is like intruding their privacy. But if my kids dun mind, me reading of coz I will KPO lor. U noe lah, me big KPO…
BTW, I LOVE ur lastest header.
Comment by §Ashleigh§ — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 @ 8:36 pm
All i can say is WOW. haven’t quite figured out what i would do yet.
Comment by Irene — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 @ 5:08 am
Those good old simple days are gone. Now we have to deal with not just the fixed line telephones but handphones, sms, msn, chat, internet, blogs…… what next?
Comment by mumsgather — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 @ 3:30 pm
Hey! Come to think of it, this may happen to me in the next couple of years. Perhaps why, I’m discouraging the use of internet for my older kid. Yup, till that time, I need all you ladies to help spy… haha.
Comment by Ange — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 @ 2:22 am
I wud definitely read my gal’s blog if she has one. If she refuses to let me know her blog address, I would definitely try to track her blog address down, and read w/o letting her know… haha… What? what privacy? *wink*
Comment by crazymommy — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 @ 11:32 am
[...] I have blogged about how some mummies are manually keeping track of their kids and joked about hiring a professional to do the job for me in time. It might not have to be that extreme but with children today being able to access to a whole gamut of computer tools, we do need to be very technologically savvy to keep track of their activities. I’ve even read of parents having to resort to sophisticated survelliance software such as this keylogger from SpectorSoft to monitor their kid’s online activities. And to think that I thought such programs were only used to monitor spouses! [...]
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