Computer crazy!

Our family fights over computer time the same way I remember fighting over phone time as a teenager. Is this really what the advances in technology have lead us to?

I must admit I'm at fault. Being a bit of a tech / gadget freak myself, I thought it was great to introduce kid-friendly computer games a few years back. I beemed when my son was four and learned to "double-click" the mouse correctly. I smiled with pride when my daughter was three and I overheard her correcting a relative on the difference between a "login" and a "password." Boy was I a sucker!

Apparently with all of the "fun stuff" they learned, I forgot to mention our main purpose for having a computer is for paying bills, organizing and WORK!! Now that Yogi and Bella have been absorbed into the world of Webkinz, the computer has been reduced to a really really expensive video game.

I sometimes find myself justifying why it's more important for me to balance the checkbook online then it is for them to "feed their Webkinz." Apparently the Webkinz get "sick" if they don't get virtually fed and tucked in to bed. Seriously?? It's like I'm asking them to kill their favorite pet if I actually want to use the computer before 8pm (bedtime).

And it's not just Webkinz... The other day B woke up at 6:15am to get ready for work and found Yogi was already out of bed. Our second grader was checking the weather.com radar to see if school would be canceled.

We've really tried to set a 30 minute limit per day. Apparently we just need to get better at enforcing it! I think it's only gotten so bad because they've been stuck inside this winter. I don't recall having this problem last summer - probably because they were playing outside so much.

Maybe the plus side is that they'll become great at learning to "fix" the computer! Then they can be on the phone with Dell tech support in India and translate for us!