My eleven year old grandson had just arrived for Thanksgiving. He was sitting on the couch smiling and burst into laughter. This Grandma was thrilled, thinking he was so happy to be here with Grandpa and me in sunny Florida, having escaped the arctic blast covering his home town up north. I sided up to him on the couch. I asked him what he was looking at. Instagrams from his friends were his center of attention and glee.
To be honest, this Grandma had never seen an instagram before.
My eight year old granddaughter climbed into our bed at seven am. Of course, her mini iPad was with her. I asked her what game she was playing. She said she wasn’t playing a game. She was texting her best friend Isabella and then left me to FaceTime her friend in the kitchen in privacy.
To be honest, this Grandma never thought of Facetiming a friend at 7 am. Most of my friends do not want me to see how they look on Facetime in the evening, much less the morning.
My seven year old grandson took her place next to me in the bed. Of course, his Mimi iPad was with him. I asked him what game he was playing. He said a football game. I smiled. I have one more year, I guessed, before social media, took over this grandson’s life.
So, this Grandma decided first to appreciate more the grandchildren younger than eight. And, second, if I want to be integral in my “older” grandchildren’s lives, I knew I also had to embrace social media as never before.
I grabbed the eleven year old again and asked him to put Instagram on my iPad. He did it so fast and easily, my head spun. Then, I asked him to set me up with my friends too. Yes, one or two of my long (we never say old) have Instagram accounts.
Once I understood the concept of Instagram, I understood its attraction to preteens and teens. Sending a picture is easier than thinking of words to say. 140 characters for Twitter may be too much brain power to expend on social media for them.
To be honest, this Grandma does not get Twitter at all, and is not interested in doing so.
I finally have gotten proficient at texting. I actually enjoy texting. I know that I can have the immediate gratification of sending a message at the time I think of it, rather than waiting for a telephone answer machine to answer and then having to leave a message. Yes, I have become one of those who just hangs up and does not leave a telephone message, and begins to text.
My grandson instagrammed a picture on my account for me.
To be honest, I have not gone on Instagram since he left.
To be honest, I do not think I can remember how.
Social media is surely changing the grandparenting landscape. To participate, I need a grandchild by my side.
Social media is more significant in how it is changing the parenting landscape. When I showed the mother of my grandson how he had helped me, she said all of this social media participation by preteens and teens is time consuming and overwhelming to the parent, as she has the responsibility to monitor all of the children’s participation on social media to protect them. She said she is of the generation where social media is new to her too and difficult to navigate easily.
Wow! Another reason to be happy to not have the responsibility of parenting in the twenty first century!
Joy,
Mema
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