When Google announces a new product, I’m always eager to give it a test run, regardless of what it’s supposed to do. I have yet to find a usefulness for Google Wave, and Google Buzz…oh, Buzz. Buzz has only added more unwelcomed factors into my life. I’m not talking about the buzz (heh) about privacy issues. I mean one simple little issue: My oldest is on Google Buzz. We “follow” each other. My twitter feed pours into Buzz, making a formerly private section of my life prominently on display for him. Even worse, I’ve become painfully tuned into the drama of a middle school aged child.
I’m sure many parents would balk at that last statement, and let me clarify: it’s not that I don’t know what my son is up to, etc. It’s that now I’m faced with those so-called growing pains that we all did in the privacy of our peers and frankly, it’s awkward. And I’m sure some parents would love to have this doorway into their kids thoughts and conversations with friends, but it feels intrusive to me. If a friend and him are arguing (which they do over Buzz..whaaa?), there it is, in my feed for me to see. I’ll talk with him (off the computer of course) and ask if everything is okay, but it makes me feel like I gained the information by spying. And then there’s the other dilemma – to respond via post or not. I don’t want to be “oh, that ‘s my mom” on his feed. How embarrassing would that be?
As I’ve mentioned in a few other posts, my maternal instinct to protect my kids is strong. Grizzly bear mama strong. It takes a great deal of discipline and restraint on my part to let him “fight his own fights”. There is a definitely a line where good intentions can step over if not kept in check. If someone was bullying my kids, there is no line. But little arguments and pre-adolescent drama? A definite line.
The latest involves some girl I don’t know. My son doesn’t even know her. I’m pretty sure his friends don’t know her either. One of his friends started following her on Buzz, and she started calling him a stalker. Okay, a little dramatic, yes. Then my son makes a comment in his own feed how she is ticking him off. The girl, who is not being followed by my son or following him, has been commenting on the post daily. Calling them stalkers. Which I find kind of amusing and definitely ironic. The drama is making my head spin, watching them go back and forth at each other. Quite a few times, I’ve wanted to step in and say something…but then what? What would I solve by making the little twat cry? And really, she’s what, a pre-teen? How awesome of me for being able to decimate the feelings of someone half my age. (That is sarcasm.) It’s as if the mommy-mode kicks in and that’s all I think about- protecting mah youngins. So thank you, Google Buzz, for making my life slightly more difficult.