the price of modernity, or just another 1st world problem

I’m so confused. 

We recently gifted an iPhone5 to the 15 yr old son. And an iPhone4S to the 13 yr old daughter. Still feeling guilty for these; like I’m spoiling them, but it turned out to be the best choice for what we needed as a family. Move along.

So, yeah now we have four iPhones for four people. All with the same carrier. 

The carrier also supplies us with our internets, cable TV, and home phone. Do we need a home phone now...?  Ummm, yeah. The grandparents... not to mention telemarketers... but we hardly answer it anymore! My criterion: if I don’t recognize the number or name, I don’t pick up. 

I have never liked picking it up. I am the oldest of three girls born close together and yet 

“THREE teenaged girls in the house; why can NONE of you pick up the phone??!” was heard frequently during those teen years.

Jan 2011 I called and upped our internet bandwidth from whatever measly amount it was to 60 GB. Buddy on the phone says “did you just get Netflix?” yeah: it came to Canada, was free for the first month, and I gorged on MadMen. 

As of Sept 2012 - count with me, that’s... 21 months - we’re up to 250GB. And that my friends is the highest tier, the mostest bandwidth they offer.

Now, in Nov, and the daughter’s phone has blown through the 1GB data plan on our family plan. So that needs to be addressed...

Then there’s the TV. We increasingly feel like we don’t watch it that much, but I’ve grown up watching TV shows on, umm, the TV. And my husband still watches the nightly news. I frequently join him. He also still reads a morning paper too...

I do now watch some shows on the computer, and YouTube plays more in the house than the TV. But if we bailed on cable and went the AppleTV route, I can’t imagine the re-organization it would take. Not to mention the maintenance. As it is I don’t keep up with the IT demands of the various individuals in this home organization what with an iMac, two MacBooks, two iPads, and the aforementioned iPhones. There’s a couple of PCs thrown in for balance too...

This is changing so fast, my head is spinning. Will someone please figure this all out - cable or streaming, Beta or VHS, BluRay or HD - and then let me know? Because this arrangement has to change. If it continues like this much longer our monthly technology bill will approach our mortgage payment.

Shocking, no? I'll wait while you finish gaping. That's what my husband did with me when he made this comparison recently.

And for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to find answers to these problems... my other Mummy friends with kids the same age haven't 'spoiled' their kids like this. Or they're not online as much as me so their needs lie elsewhere. 

Anybody else confused??

staidHome

I think the first time I was required to create a username was when I joined Ravelry in 2007. At that time I was coming to grips with the fact that I was probably never returning to the paid workforce. I had prepared for, longed for... the time when I would be Working. I loved my jobs: three in six years, all in research labs doing basic benchwork. Something - the only thing - that I had ever wanted to do.

After I had decided to embark on the adventure of parenthood, it became clear to me that there was no reason to return to work. Other than personal fulfillment - which yes is a reason in and of itself, but not enough to potentially throw many things into a tizzy around me. Mostly me.

My Mom had stayed home. She didn't seem to like being at home. My absolutely completely and utterly worst fear was to end up like my Mom. Stuck. At home.

And yet what were the Fates throwing me? Just exactly that. Breathe in, Breathe out.

So when I was staring at the screen tapping finger against cheek I tried to think of one concise expression to sum me up. I didn't go back to work... I: Stayed Home.

Then, a play on words. Staid: sedate, respectable, and unadventurous. One image that pops uninvited into one's head when picturing a SAHM. That ain't me. But sticking my tongue in my cheek and using that word would be very much me. Capitolized the H just cuz.

So there you have it.


addendum: I miss Science. Less now than 10 years ago, but I do still miss it. However I am 100% sure that being staidHome is the right thing for me. There is no bitterness in me, and I am NOT my Mom.

expectorant

My sister beat me to this blog post...
(I suppose if you've clicked over from her blog, you can now compare who is the more screwed up. I vote for me...)

Susannah's weekly week-end offers included this link, and I thought 'hmm, I wonder what my over-expectations are?'



I am supposed

to be more mentally stable
to be thin, effortlessly
to (like to) eat vegetables
to (like to) ski
to put things away
to make my kids eat properly
to be an artist
to have everything organized


Let's change that, shall we?

I will

congratulate myself on my present excellent mental health
be comfortable in this skin, reside in my body
appreciate my appetite
celebrate my family's skiing ability (from the spa. heh heh)
tidy, but not expect pristine
educate my kids on refueling themselves
be an artist, of sorts
embrace messy

That's better. Be your own best friend...