Working for the CIA, part 2

In my blog on Tuesday, I began sharing all of the lessons I am learning as the mother of teenagers. There is a part of me that wonders if I should withhold this information until after they leave my home. It is a tension I manage. Some things I will withhold out of respect for their privacy, but at the same time there is an all out war for our kids. I want all of us as parents to link arms and be equipped. The enemy is sly. He will use any tool he can to subtly or abruptly rob our children of their innocence. So be on your game. Here are some additional discoveries:6. A Contact might not be what it appearsI found Dad and Daddy in a contact list. I thought that was curious, so I checked the numbers. One of my son's “daddy's” was a girl, go figure. (BTW, my son does not read my blog. I would like to keep it that way, so please don’t joke with him about this if you happen to know him. He is not the first teen to think up this tactic. Tuck the info away in your arsenal.)7. Taking away a phone does not always take away communication.Twitter and Instagram both have direct messaging components. Your teen can continue to communicate with friends from any iPad or computer... and your phone, too!8. Technology is better downstairsLong before I had teens, a friend of mine with older children mentioned that she required that all of her children AND their friends leave their technology downstairs when they were in their home. I tucked away the piece of advice, but at the time my children were 9 and 11. They could barely find their itouch so I really did not worry about them being on it at all hours of the night. Asking their innocent friends to cough it up also seemed a little extreme.Fast forward… last weekend I laid in bed and it all was crystal clear. I had the technology of the Conlees, but felt bad asking for the friend’s that was sleeping over. After telling everyone to be off their technology and realizing an hour later that girls were Facetiming the boys on the remaining device upstairs, I now realized it would have been easier to just implement a no technology rule upstairs LONG AGO. I sent Chris to be the heavy hand.9. The Greatest Tool we have is prayerNext week, there will be something new and different, but the greatest tool we have, prayer, will always be up to date. I know many parents join me in praying that the sin of their children will be quickly exposed. God has been faithful to answer this prayer. We must expect that our children will stumble. While challenging and hard on our hearts, be grateful for the adversity they face while still in your home. This gives you and me the opportunity to coach them through the circumstances and learn from their poor choices.If you have any technology tidbits you have learned, please let me know! Us parents must stick together!