Domestic Psychology | Archive

ode to Social Media – first verse

// May 31st, 2009 // No Comments » // blogging, media, people, social media

I won’t tell you exactly what Social Media is, because it is a unique experience for each user. I can tell you what it isn’t. Social Media is not an advertising campaign. If you think you can spam Twitter and bill a clueless client, you need to have your keyboard taken away. As a consumer, that kind of behavior has the opposite effect of what you are intending it to have. If you think you can get the same results with a Facebook fan page that you would get from a professional ad agency, you are going to learn very quickly that you get what you pay for. Social Media might be a key part of your advertising campaign, but please don’t let someone masquerading as an advertising professional convince you otherwise. Now, if you want Social Media to be your public relations focus, that’s a horse of a different color.

second verse: non-profits

Saturday fun

// May 30th, 2009 // No Comments » // flickr, holidays, preschoolers

one of THOSE days

// May 29th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // aspergers, home, humor, kid quotes, medical, parenting, preschoolers, teenagers

Me: “Tommy, do you want to spend the rest of your life just playing WoW in our basement?”
Tommy: “I don’t think you want to know my answer.”

Sarah: “I have NOTHING to wear. I HAVE to have new clothes.”

Noah: “Umm, yeah, I didn’t tell you, but, I, umm, lost a part of my snare drum that you rented.”

Amy: “Where’s the gum I was saving?”
Me: “Where did you leave it?”
Amy: “It was right there. Where Molly is napping.”

Evan: CRASH! “Ow. Ow. Ow.”
Me: pulling the shelf off of him “Where does it hurt?”
Evan: “Everywhere.”
Two hours and one trip to Children’s ER later, we have been reassured that he will be fine. They decided against stitches on his cheek.

I can hardly wait for tomorrow.

proving my immaturity

// May 28th, 2009 // No Comments » // flickr, knoxville, people

They are both social media giants.

we need disclaimers

// May 27th, 2009 // No Comments » // blogging, politics, TN

Since our state legislators’ reaction to news is to pass measures of support on the very least effectual issues, I propose all Tennessee bloggers, letter writers and columnists add some standard disclaimers at the bottom of their work. How about:

*The appropriate response to this information is not time and expense creating a measure of support. Please take actions that will actually improve the quality of life for people instead.

It just needs a symbol to use as a replacement for the entire sentence since our legislators just skim the news instead of researching it. For example, the only thing they needed to do in this particular case was to help a family gain citizenship. I think our legislators should have to pay for one of the teachers who fell under the budget axe this year to supervise the legislators’ behavior. If a teacher can keep middle school students focused on their work, they can certainly handle a bunch of elected officials who have been reduced to adolescent behavior. “Mr. Representative, You stop fidgeting and pay attention to the project that the rest of the group is discussing. Ms. Representative, don’t make me call your constituents.”

hiding out

// May 26th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // blogging, me, mental health, parenting, summer

I have no personal space. I thought about hiding in our bedroom closet until I realized that it is filled with everyone’s stuff but mine. It’s not fair to hide in someone else’s clothes. You would think the bathroom would be a safe place for privacy, but you’d be wrong. Even the newest 4-y-o picks the bathroom lock and stomps in to demand whatever it is he thinks he needs at that moment. My first reaction to Color Guard practice not disappearing from my carpool duties for the summer was disappointment. Then, I decided to claim the one hour practices as MY time. I might sit in Starbucks and listen to the vitamin salesman trying to sell his wares. I might turn on the ipod and do some people watching at the park. Maybe I’ll put the seat back in the car and sleep in the sticky, southern summer heat. Mostly, I will sit with my low-tech (not by choice) pen and paper writing posts or working on the project I am doing for the middle school PTO. I will only be dropping off and going home during the three weeks of all day, every day practices, but that’s okay. I’m still going to get more me time this summer than I have had since I became a parent. Anyone want to place bets on how long this lasts before the rest of the family declares mutiny on my selfishness?

Evan says:

// May 26th, 2009 // No Comments » // kid quotes, parenting, preschoolers, sleep

Me: “Evan, you should close your eyes and rest.”
Evan: “I can’t. I won’t be able to see.”

He still talks with a lisp and has zero impulse control, but he sounds like a 4-year-old.

Dear cell phone service provider,

// May 25th, 2009 // 9 Comments » // mail, technology, teenagers

We’ve been together for a very long time. I really don’t ask for a lot from you. In exchange for almost never hearing from me, we have FIVE phones and pay you an exorbitant amount of money. It’s time for you to start providing some useful services in exchange for that hefty bill. I want, no, I NEED you to create a parental control features for cell phones that is modeled after the WoW parental controls. I want to be able to go in at any time and change the schedule of when my teenagers’ cell phones can be used. That’s not all I ~~want~~ need. I need to be able to control specific functions on the phone, like sending calls, receiving calls and most importantly, texting. I should be able to completely turn off texting from midnight until 6 a.m. I should be able to turn off all incoming/outgoing calls except 911 and me during school hours. I should be able to change my mind about these settings any time of day or night. In fact, I think that anytime a teenager’s phone goes over 10K text msgs in a single month, you should send a text count message to my phone. I’m not kidding. Let’s get this set-up going right now.

Thanks,
Cathy