Silicon Valley Moms Blog

Homework 2.0

I have a secret that I don't share with many people: while I am immersed in technology for business and social networking, I only introduce technology to my kids on an "as requested" basis. I believe when kids are ready for technology, they will ask for it. Then the first step is to provide safety education. The second step is to set up automatic limits (internet safety software) and time limits (one hour per day). The third step is called "hope", hope the education and limits work.

That being said, I may have gone too far with my waiting game. Gaming consoles and handheld technologies were the first things my kids asked for, and seemed safer because internet access was not included. Access to learning games, iTunes and YouTube were the first online requests.  Now my son is in fourth grade - and his school life has been completely transformed.  He does not like to write, luckily his classroom has a smartboard and laptops. Some homework can be accessed online then emailed back to his teacher. School basics go way beyond a pencil and paper, my son needs a home computer, internet access, digital camera, printer and USB flash drives.

The one task I should not have waited on was typing games.  By the time he is in middle school, most homework will be done on computers. Struggling with cursive may be a thing of the past.

Beth Blecherman is Co-Founder of the Silicon Valley Moms Group and has a personal blog on technology & parenting called "Techmamas.com".

When Mom Becomes a "Technology Freak"

When one of my ex-roomates walked into my house for a visit yesterday, I expected her to tease me that my "gadget charging station" was over-crowded. She was always the "neat freak" when we we lived together. But she did not notice the big pile of gadgets, because that is the norm in her house, too. However, she did ask my nine year old son how he was doing and he replied that he has become an expert windsurfer - "but mom has become a technology freak".

I laughed when he said that, but wondered what about my behavior had inspired that comment. I thought about how we spend weekends mostly technology free.  My son uses our laptops for homework and earns his screen time to play with the house entertainment technology. All this technology seems "the norm" for him. So what about my behavior made my son call me a technology freak?

Then I remembered the list of technology gadgets he sees me use each day, and it all made sense.

Hot Tech News = Kids Late For Preschool

It is now almost 9:30am and my twins should have been at preschool by 9am (my husband always takes our older son to his third grade class early). And why are my twins late this morning? Because I have been busy obsessively reading the tech news that Microsoft made an unsolicited bid for Yahoo. And then I just had to create a post with my rants about this over at Techmamas.

Am I a bad mother for allowing my kids to be late this one day (I am usually on time)? Am I a bad mother for making them even later by posting about my concerns of being a bad mother? Is my obsession with reading tech blogs something I should seek help on? Or is it a result of leaving my technology job to become a parent? When will I realize that many other preschool mothers don't care about the Gizmodo escapade or what tech company is bidding for another tech company?

You Owe Me

One of the unintended benefits of both my husband and I having BlackBerrys is the opportunity for sharing humor in a way that simple phone conversations can not offer. Last night, my husband and 9 year old son took the train to San Francisco to attend a Boy Scout event that included sleeping on a submarine. My son was very excited, and so was his Dad - but the sacrifice level was somewhat high for this event. The dads and kids are sleeping on bunks inside the submarine - but the Dads need to forgo a full nights sleep to take turns watching guard over everyone.. Add to that tonight's weather (big cold rainy storm - and did I say cold...). Oh, and no technology allowed on the submarine..

So...Last night, while I was sitting in my nice warm house watching a movie and enjoying the quiet time,  I received this email from my husband:

Pleo: A Geeky Mom's Review

When I first heard about the Pleo via in Wired magazine article a year ago, I thought I had died and gone to geek heaven. Pleo is the successor to Furby, a robotic baby dinosaur that responds and learns from your actions. I saw (and held) an early version of the Pleo over the summer at the Robogames in San Francisco, and it was love at first sight. Granted, it was going to be an expensive gadget/pet at $350, but I HAD to get it.

Moreover, as a typical Silicon Valley household, we have robotics and Webkinz crazy kids (ages 7 and 9) who are into hacking their way into video games. So the prospect of modifying Pleo's personality was especially intriguing. Then there's the mommy logic of Pleo. Imagine a pet that requires no food, no poop clean-up, no hair clinging to my dress pants. Our two real-life guinea pig pets were in for some serious competition.

Colbert Report Video Spotlight: Stay At Home Dads (or SAHDs)

After hearing multiple working executive moms with stay-at-home husbands tell me I should see this video, I finally took a look. This video is from Comedy Central's Colbert Report and it is on the stay at home dads (or SAHDs as they call it).

I know stay at home dads from my kids schools and I applaud them for shaking up the roles that working moms have juggling work and family. I also applaud any parent for just making it through the day, but the stay at home dad is a cultural evolution I am happy to see (it's about time). They bike to school pick-up, volunteer and do the afterschool activity juggle. They complain about not being able to keep up with shopping, housework and laundry. I even had a discussion with one stay at home dad about how sometimes you need to be aggressive while food shopping if you want to make it through the store in enough time to pick up your kids from school (get out of my way slow shoppers!).

When a term (i.e. stay at home dads) hits the lexicon of the comedy show circuit, you know it becoming part of modern culture. But the one thing it will help most with is the age old error many working dads make when they walk in the door after work and say "the house looks a mess, what have you done all day?". Or to hear more men say "Wet Swiffers rock!".

The video is a segment from the Comedy Central's Colbert Report (sometimes there is a short delay in the video, if so hold tight).

The Mom Song: William Tell Overture Style

I just posted last week about the YouTube video getting viral with moms: William Tell Overture. Culturally, I feel that this signifies the new generation of email jokes (email videos). Because I am still getting emails from different sets of friends (one to two a day for the last week - yesterday from my Mother-in-Law), I decided to put the video on the site again. It is very funny...

YouTube William Tell Overture For Moms

Here is more info on Anita Renfroe, the creative mom behind the song. And mommyneedscoffee has the lyrics for those that want to sing along...

YouTube Viral Videos are the New Joke Emails for Moms

Sarah's post on online addictions got me thinking about my own. I feel like I live in two different worlds, my live network of friends and my online social network. Luckily there is some cross-over. But many of my mom friends don't know much about blogs or would not consider socializing with moms online. I will call them my live social network friends.

Well, those live social mom friends who may be very technology savvy, but never read blogs or have ever joined online social networks are passing YouTube videos around in emails instead of jokes or mushy mom inspirational thoughts. I feel as though things are staring to change. Maybe I can get them to join Facebook and post that video to their profile.

And here is the completely viral  (VERY FUNNY) YouTube video that inspired them to join into the technology fun......

In Silicon Valley, Even the Four Year Olds Want The New iPod

It was our 10th wedding anniversary and my hubby asked for an iPod to use while he jogs. So, I thought it was a great opportunity to visit the local Apple Store, which I affectionately call my "Babysit & Buy" store. They have a special area set up with kid sized tables and Macs loaded with games that my 4 year old twin boys love. They are so easy to use that my twins just sit down and start using the MAC without any instruction from mom. My 8 year old son (B) enjoys playing with the Mac desktops and the iPhone, which he calls "really cool" and also does not need any instruction from mom. In fact, he has taught me a few tricks.  I guess he is not alone with his interest in iPhones, but he will not be getting one anytime soon (unless he gets a job). B is the first in our family to get an iPod, which I believe he should feel lucky just for that. Little did I know that technology cravings start at a young age in Silicon Valley....

Mom in a Minivan Hangs with the Palo Alto iPhone Groupies

As I am writing this (6pm June 29th) those waiting in the long line at the Apple Store in Palo Alto, some for 24 hours or more, are getting their new iPhone.

After reading the reviews, most recently by David Pogue of the New York Times, I see that there are many advantages and some challenges for the iPhone. The most important advantage (from a Mom's standpoint) seems to be the ease of use and amazing graphics. Everything from the keyboard, web browser and email is controlled by a touch screen. The graphics allow a user to see a newspaper page on their iPhone while scrolling with their fingertips (and double tap to enlarge). The challenge from the reviews seems to be response time. When iPhone users are at a Wi-Fi hotspot, the reviewers say the response time is fast. But, as David Poque said, "otherwise, you have to use AT&T’s ancient EDGE cellular network, which is excruciatingly slow." David Pogue also has an interesting graphical tour of the iPhone. Techmeme was all a-buzzing iPhone talk today.

Overall I agree the iPhone is revolutionary, and so did all the people waiting in line today. I happen to be in downtown Palo Alto touching base with LaBelle, Vivre, Mantra and Romi regarding the results of our mom makeover contest. On the way back, I thought I would drive by the Apple Store to see if anyone is waiting in line. I knew there were lines all over the country, but in Palo Alto? I should have known better, this is Silicon Valley after all!

Robert Scoble (pictured on the left) posted on his blog Scobleizer.com "Report from the line". He happened to be second in line when I went to the front. Now, if I were a real reporter I would of had a pen and paper so I could have written down all the nice peoples' names (who agreed to have their picture taken for a moms blog). But, I am just a mom in a minivan that happened to be on the way to pick her son up from camp so I was lucky to have my camera in the car.

Here is Robert Scoble's son (pictured on the right) who was "number one"in line. He said he has been in line since 9:30am YESTERDAY! They were also featured in the Palo Alto Daily News.

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The NBC News crew was around the corner. They were getting ready to film a story, but kindly agreed to have their picture taken. Wow, lots of excitement in downtown Palo Alto!

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