MIA= Missing in Action
MIA=Mother in Action
MIA=Mostly Insane Actions

You can chose whichever you like.  Life just seems to get in the way of our best attempts at it, doesn't it?!  Mine does anyway.  We don't have any kids living with us...so we tend to do things long distance.  All of the kids live at least 1,000 miles away.  My mother lives 1,000 miles away.  My best friend...more like a sister...lives 1,000 miles away.  So, we are always MIA from the rest of the family.  That being said, you would think that I have all of this time on my hands....but I don't.  I am always being interrupted by the telephone.  That is one reason that I love email.  I can do whatever I want to do, grab a cup of Joe, and sit here at my computer reading and answering my emails at a convenient time.  Now, that might work with our older friends who are finally on the Internet, but it doesn't work with the kids.  For that, we have to have a Facebook Account.  That is where my skin sometimes crawls after visiting there.  I love to go on to see the digital photos...but I don't always like what I read.  You see, if you live near your grown kids, you don't have a clue as to what they are really up to.  Sometimes, that can be a good thing.

When I go onto Facebook, I am always so amazed at what these kids post.  With all of the warnings that are out there about all of your information being posted on the World Wide Web for all of eternity, you would think that our adult children would have a clue.  That makes me worry even more about the grandkids.   If their parents are heeding warnings about Facebook, how can the kids become aware?!  When you live in the same town, the kids tend to hide everything from you...like we used to do with our own parents.  They find out about our past escapades as we siblings chide one another at the annual Thanksgiving Day Feast!  That is when our mothers skin crawl and they chastise us for things that we never should have done 20-30 years ago.  That is the way that it is supposed to be.  But no....not anymore.  I went onto to Facebook the other day and saw what the kids were up to just from seeing their conversational posts to their individual audiences.  I also saw that my 11 year old grandson broke up with his girlfriend.  His girlfriend?!  He is 11 years old, for Pete's sake!  Had we been told about this via the telephone?  Of course not.  The kids know that we wouldn't understand or approve, so they don't tell us these things.  These are the things that we are supposed to learn about 20 years in the future.  But, because the WWW, I am aware of lots of things that I don't approve of.  The weird part is that when I see these things, I feel like I am eavesdropping.  I am a "friend" on their account....but they forget that I do go on from time to time.  Oh, I am not on there day after day as they are.  I don't share my personal information like they do.  But, I do go on from time to time to see the newest photos of the grandkids.  I miss them and get homesick for them...and this allows me some comfort.  But, the information that they exude....well....ignorance can be bliss. 

The other thing that kills me about Facebook are some of the quotes that these kids post on the walls there.  I mean, do you remember "Today is the first day of the rest of our lives"?  My senior class was so proud of that phrase.  Silly now...but we liked it back then.  The other one that stands out is "What is apathy?  I don't know and I don't care."  At least they meant something.  But, some of the phrases that they post now have no rhyme or reason to them.  My grandson posted one about love, and quite honestly, it sounded good when I first read it.  My brain then started trying to reason out the meaning...and there wasn't any.  It sounded poetic....but that is all.  It rhymed nicely.

I have one more gripe to air concerning the Internet:  What happened to language?  Evthg z abbr & hd 2 cmprhnd.  I found a useful site:  http://www.netlingo.com/word/idc.php     I keep it in my favorites so that when I don't understand something, I turn to this dictionary.  It has been very helpful.  For example, when my grandson insulted me in an email, I was able to chastise him for that.  He was in shock when I called him about that.  It was his way of mouthing back to me about an issue that we didn't agree on.  That is what worried me the most I think.  They think that we are stupid.  We need to keep up with the game so that we can keep these kids in line.  His parents didn't have a clue because they don't understand the abbreviated language anymore than I do.  I just keep asking questions and keep trying to learn.  But, if someone sends you something that you don't understand...that is a great site to use.

If I have a chance, I will continue this story of adult children later this week. An email sparked another topic...when adult children come back to visit....house rules.....or....MOM I'm NOT A CHILD!  Stay tuned!