Parenting Daily

I just want you all to know I’m now an Angel. Okay, technically, I’m a CherryPal Brand Angel. What does that mean? Well, it means that this blog and my dedication to the writing lifestyle over the past few months, combined with some luck, are getting me a free desktop CPU. This is a very good thing for me, personally, since I am pretty broke, my desktop tower has been broken since November 2006 (though it makes a good decoration sitting on top of the fridge!), and this laptop acts funky now that it’s three years old. I’ll admit it first—I’d never heard of CherryPal. Have you? Probably not. They’re doing a really grassroots campaign, which I sincerely hope is successful. In return for giving some number of us (I have no idea how many) these free CherryPal units, we are expected to blog about them (honestly! They encourage us to talk about the good, the bad, the ugly, the beauty, etc.—don’t hold back!), talk about them on our social networking pages (MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, etc.), and just be available to try to help answer questions if any of our readers, friends, and family have questions about them. The units haven’t shipped yet, due to some delays (pretty standard for a startup), but the website has a lot of good info: www.cherrypal.com AND I can offer you all my personal promotional code to use if you’d like to pre-order a unit. These units are not going to be sold in brick-and-mortar stores… maybe ever… but at least to start. The units are really affordable but bare-bones– $249. through PayPal and it is ONLY the desktop unit. No monitor, no keyboard, no mouse, etc. Which, frankly, is just perfect for me since I noted my tower broke down—before the tower broke, I had been steadily replacing each peripheral so my monitor, keyboard, and mouse are just barely used and I’m so excited to get them out when the desktop arrives! With this promotional code– CPP269– (which you are to enter on the SECOND page of the order process), $10. will be refunded to you when the order is processed. Check out the website and read up on the technology. I think you’ll be as impressed as I am. And with back-to-school right around the corner, I think this is a fabulous idea for your teen students. For teens going back to college, look how teeny the desktop is! Those dorm rooms are small, Mom and Dad! Pair this unit with a flat screen monitor, and your teen will still have room left on the desk! More posts about the CherryPal will be forthcoming once I receive it and start using it and seeing what it can do. I’m so excited! I haven’t been this excited about a computer since I heard about the One Laptop Per Child program years ago.

If you have a television, you’ve no doubt noticed the ads in the past few years about parents taking control of their children’s television viewing habits… or, at least, informing us that we have tools available to help us do that. When they’re younger, this seems easier to do. Their interests are pretty limited and you’re buying everything they use, you’re usually around when they’re watching television and movies, and you’re usually there to hear the music, as well. But the older they get, the more independent they are, and the more “media” items they may have access to on their own—TVs and stereos in their bedrooms, they can go to friends’ homes, they may have the money to buy their own cds, dvds, games, etc. I’ve posted before that I think most, if not all, reading materials do not need to be censored (in my opinion, folks! Do what you like!), nor does musical preferences. But there’s ongoing speculation that viewing violence on TV, in movies, and playing certain video games can lead to a detachment, unreality, and a host of things that aren’t good for anyone, let alone teens whose brains are, yes, still forming and maturing! Commonsensemedia.org is a fabulous site for keeping up with what your kids are watching, playing, listening to, and yes, even reading. It includes parent reviews, news headlines, and other tips that parents with any minor children should check out.

90210—if you haven’t heard by now, the outrageously popular teen drama hit of the 90s, Beverly Hills, 90210, is being recycled into a new version. 90210, set to premiere on the CW channel on September 2, looks to rival the CW’s other hit teen drama, “Gossip Girl.” If you haven’t seen previews, let me tell you they seem to be missing that element of fun that I remember from watching the original series. Sure, there was plenty of scandal on the original series, too, but the opening was a bunch of teens having fun and looking like they belong in high school. And the previews could be misleading but, thus far, it looks like a soap opera full of 20-somethings.Come to think of it, so does “Gossip Girl”. Hmmm… at any rate, for more information on a series your teen may be checking out, look here.

Sparknotes. Remember the yellow and black study guides we all used to buy when we either a) didn’t want to read one of our assigned Eng/List books or b) needed to have someone interpret Shakespeare for us? Well, I’m sure they still exist, even though I can’t for the life of me remember what they’re called. But now that it’s the twenty-first century and we’re online, so are the study guides! Meet, SparkNotes. Online study guides. Free membership account. And it’s from Barnes and Noble. So, it’s a brand name you’re already familiar with, you know the information is going to be responsible and trustworthy, and there’s probably a way to buy stuff from bn.com when/if you need to supplement the free materials. I also find the website to be far more attractive than the black & yellow stripes that always reminded me of a scary road sign!

Have you heard of Visa Buxx? It’s like a pre-paid credit card for kids and teens that parents can put money on. Up until now, I’ve never really investigated it. It didn’t seem like anything I’d be interested in helping my kids get, since I find the idea of a child having a credit card (of any sort!) to be distasteful, to say the least. But I know that I depend heavily on my debit card and, sure, that comes straight out of my checking account, but it’s kind of the same concept. So I looked up the Visa Buxx tonight and apparently there are two versions—one for 12 years old and under, and one for 13 years and up. Pay Jr. runs both programs and you can see details here. My point in bringing it up isn’t so much to say whether it is good or bad, but to debate both sides. On the one hand, I would like my children to be prepared for what the world is like, and it seems it’s an increasingly plastic world. On the other hand, having plastic instead of cash is kind of a disconnect. Can you learn the true value of money when you aren’t dealing in cold, hard cash? What are your thoughts?  

If you have a teen daughter who is plus-size, you may be very familiar with the frustrations of finding cute, teen-appropriate clothing styles in her size. Add to this the fact that many a teen girl, regardless of size, can be very self-conscious trying on clothing in stores, and shopping for new clothes can go from being fun to being an exercise in crisis management.

Enter Torrid. Torrid is an online-clothing store for plus-size fashions, geared primarily towards teen and young adult gals. Don’t let the name scare you too much (if you’re anything like me, the word “torrid” brings to mind paperback Harlequin novels!). The site is cute, the fashions are affordable, and there’s even a sale going on through today.

Your teen can create a wishlist from the privacy of their own home and then, when they’re ready to purchase, you can review their choices, sizes, etc. before you (I do NOT advise turning your credit or debit card over to the teen to enter the information because they may over-spend or, even better, write down your info to use another time!) enter the information for payment and shipping.

Tip: For easy shopping at holidays, birthdays, or any time you want to buy your teen a little something, wishlists are great. Ask your teen to give you a list of places where they have wishlists (amazon.com is great for books, DVDs, and music) and then you can simply pull up the info and purchase some items you already know they like!

Plurk is a new kind of microblogging site. Blogging= what I do on this site, and what other people do on sites you probably read. Microblogging= itty bitty blogs, usually around 150 characters or less that typically state what a user is doing/thinking/reading/writing/feeling, etc. at that particular moment. Twitter is one of the most popular micro-blogging sites, but hasn’t attracted much in the way of a teen audience. Plurk, with its funky graphics, “cliques” (groups), and karma (akin to earned points, which earn different features for Plurk users), looks to be the forerunner in attracting the much-desired teen demographic. So, check it out, Mom and Dad. Let the kiddos know about it if you approve (but make sure you know their usernames and check up on them to see what they’re plurking about!).