Diaries of an old-fashioned housewife

Recently my 9-year-old son asked me to create him an e-mail account. "What for? - I asked.

My opinion about internet/computer games/silly cartoons is the following: "if we grew up without it, you can too." And you can imagine how many of us had computers in the former Soviet Union. But my son was persistent, and so was I. I even started a discussion on our school mailing list whether a 3rd-grader needs e-mail and why. We all discussed it for a few days and came to a decision that I am an old-fashioned geek. Even though almost every child in class has an e-mail account, very few parents told me what they are using it for.

"Everyone in my class has it." My answer to "everyone is doing it" is always: "Every household has its own rules, and if you don't like mine, you can go live with somebody else's family." But a few days ago life made a joke on me. Alex started a special math school, where he has to have an e-mail account to communicate with his teacher. I lost a battle with modern age, which was probably bound to happen.

I am being a hypocrite when it comes to modern-day devices. I know that we need to visit each other more and talk on the phone, like in good old times, instead of exchanging e-mails and hanging on Facebook. And what's up with electronic cards? What happened to calling your friend on her birthday? To me, e-mailing a card is like saying: "I didn't forget your birthday, but I don't really care to talk to you, so here is your card." And what happened to these lovely "Happy anniversary" cards that you used to send by snail-mail to your out-of-town relatives? I used to love going to a stationary store to pick out cards for my friends - they made the cards so pretty here. Not anymore. Now we don't have time - e-mailing a card is easier (and cheaper). So I do it too.

I am not that old-fashioned. I use internet to e-mail pictures to my friends. Of course, sending e-mail to a friend that lives across the ocean is a lot faster than sending a snail-mail letter (which I did when I first came here and before I bought a computer btw). And I use Facebook to exchange thoughts and ideas.

So, I guess internet is not so bad afterall. And maybe I am being too hard on my kids for keeping their use of computers to a minimum. But they are still kids and they need guidance. It's like alcohol for teenagers. Most of us drink because we know how to do it in moderation. But teenagers are a different story - we know they will drink, so we have to explain to them the dangers of overuse. Same with internet and the little kids. We know they are using internet, so monitor what they do and explain how to use it properly.