Sign of the Times

While doing my nightly clean up the other evening after bedtime, I came across a typical pile of ripped out journal pages all filled by Logan and her adorable little handwriting. What used to be sheet after sheet of "I love you's" is morphing into elaborate ideas and sentences, all really telling about what is going on in that intuitive mind of hers.

The one right in front of me on the desk says, "I love Riley and Mom to, but I love my dog the most and I love evrybuty. Love, Logan" There are notes like this everywhere, that talk about all kinds of things and I just love reading them and figuring her out. So often, what I read reminds me of myself and I remember what it was like to be a little journalist, writing all sorts of things down. But the other night I caught some documentation that truly is a sign of the times; something that I would have never known to write in my wildest dreams. Here's a picture:



What do you think she imagined for her site? Is it all about her, her friends, her writing, her elaborate songs and stories? I wish I had asked her when I first found it, I feel like I would have gotten a more complete answer. I'll still do it though, I'm dying to know.

It amazes me all the time that both Logan and Riley are completely comfortable and efficient in their computer use, already able to remember usernames and passwords for a variety of kid-sites and games. I can't believe how quickly they pick up short-cuts and ways to do things in virtual worlds like Webkinz. For a grown-up who really only used a computer begining near the end of high school for word processing, it is pretty shocking to see a 4-year old navigate the Internet with ease.

I've always had some forethought about monitoring their usage and putting protective software out there, but never thought the time would come so soon. The other day, Mike watched as Logan just googled what she wanted and it came right up. Luckily, the site she clicked on was a safe one, but you just know that there are smart bad guys out there that have figured out what our little ones are looking for and have used those search words in twisted ways. Yep, I think the time has come to tighten it up a bit.

And I'll have to investigate the site plan for "logan.com". As a former analyst for web-based systems, I can certainly help her develop the requirements for her site, although I don't think she'll have any use for my web copy. She's got that covered!