In my parents' house oversleeping meant a cold shower, because the water heater wasn't designed for five kids in high school and junior high at the same time.
..But are the parents savvy enough to text/Facebook their kids in the proper argot? I’m pretty convinced that by this point the entire Z Generation has lapsed into Middle English. Unless you text them something like, "Waiq upp, Peenutt, Mug off hawt Milkk w8tin 4 u in ze Kitchun," they won't even know WTF you’re talking about.
@michaellamb: Seriously; I woke up at 5:45 AM for high school--fat chance of having someone gently shake your shoulder at that hour, let alone crafting a "good morning!" text.
My mother would never go in for these text-messaging wakeup shenanigans.
Not for any good-parenting reason -- I just know for a fact that she enjoyed starting off the day by storming our rooms like they were Normandy beaches. I believe she thought back to the shocked and terrified looks on our drowsy faces later in the day, and smiled fondly.
Frankly, I find this more civilized than the alternatives my family had when I was a kid. If I didn't respond in time to the "Wake up STOP It's time for breakfast STOP Get dressed now or you'll be late for school STOP" telegram, my parents would resort to more drastic measures. If you've ever had the experience of opening your eyes to a flock of carrier pigeons bearing the message "Get the hell up!", you would welcome the dulcet tones of a text message chime, believe you me.
Mr. Gude, a text message isn't going to catch your son masturbating to the Sears catalog. How will you gauge his sexuality if you don't see whether he's using the womens lingerie or mens underwear section? Oh, right, you'll hack into his Facebook page. Carry on.
I don't know if the technology aspect is what is weakening the family given this story. What does boggle the mind is that the kids always respond to text messages but not their dad speaking. Plus the dad is too lazy to get up off his ass to go upstairs? Didn't click on the link, but I bet good ole dad is a bit chubby.
@The Cajun Boy: I get it Cajun. But it is really just being too damn lazy to parent. Technology didn't cause it. If the parents didn't text or twitter, the newspaper/tv/ radio or something else would have been more interesting to these people than their children.
@momof3wildkids: I disagree--to me, it looks like the parents are trying their hardest to communicate with their kids in a way they find most appealing; they're looking for a way to insinuate themselves into their children's every day lives in a natural way. Now, I happen to think that it's a problem that they're adjusting to their children's technology-obsessed insanity rather than forcing their children to adopt their adult habits, like sitting down at the table and using a damn alarm clock, but I don't think it comes from a place of apathy.
Modern threats to the traditional family don't concern me as much as traditional threats to the modern family. I'm talking about the barbaric practice of bringing ninja weapons to the breakfast table. If Twitter distracts my kids from bringing their blowguns to the table, then as a parent it's trade off that I'm willing to accept.
@ChillbearLatrigue: Excellent point. And we can't overlook the fact that easy access porn in the bedroom lessens the bathroom traffic jams in the morning. Silver linings abound, people - you just have to look for them.
I see Mrs. Sanford moved out of her husband's house this weekend. If one uptight Republican white lady with a shitty hairdo can swing it, why not all? As South Carolina goes, so goes Alaska?
I don't mind liars, really, I mean, we're all used to them. But the scary ones do bother me, the ones who tell the most blatant outrageous falsehoods which even on their face are transparent. Like, her husband accidentally checked the box Alaskan Independence Party seven years running because he thought it meant he was independent and all. And they both show up at the meetings and she speaks at them because they thought it was just another Tupperware party. Chilling.
I'd say that if Todd stays in Alaska, while Sarah takes-up residence in Des Moines, then they're definitely staying together, but if they both move to the Lower 48, then it won't be long until Todd is hanging with Jon Gosselin and Michael Lohan is on their wing.
08/10/09
08/10/09
08/10/09
08/10/09
08/10/09
08/10/09
Not for any good-parenting reason -- I just know for a fact that she enjoyed starting off the day by storming our rooms like they were Normandy beaches. I believe she thought back to the shocked and terrified looks on our drowsy faces later in the day, and smiled fondly.
08/10/09
08/10/09
08/10/09
08/10/09
08/10/09
08/10/09
08/10/09
08/10/09
08/10/09
08/10/09
08/10/09
08/10/09
08/10/09
08/09/09
08/05/09
08/05/09
08/05/09