I'm a Mother Who Knows

Julie Beck, the worldwide president of the woman's organization of our church, called The Relief Society, the largest women's organization in the world, gave a talk a few years ago called "Mothers Who Know".

Among some of her key points were that mothers who know are leaders, nurturers and teachers, and stand strong and immovable against the onslaught of opposition in this day and age. Her talk is probably among the top ten of any faithful Mormon woman you ask. It's certainly one of my all-time favorites.

Now, to take the title of her talk, "Mothers Who Know", more literally, I'd like to share an incident that occurred in our kitchen a few nights ago.

I had been reading the first book in THIS series to the kids as we relaxed in the living area of the kitchen. From where I sat, I could see the computer monitor, and suddenly a small avatar touting a symbol of fire popped up on the screen, accompanied by a vrooooooottt sound, following by a bee-bop sound.

I kept reading, but the 8-year-old girl turned to look at the computer and nervously asked, "Mom! What was that sound?"

"It's just Ferdinand (name has been changed to protect the innocent) signing in on Instant Messenger, then sending the 15-year-old girl a message that he wants to chat," I answered.

The 15-year-old girl, who usually has something smart to say, sat completely dumbfounded, shocked that I had learned her friend's avatar and could recognize what vroooottt and bee bop meant.

Fellow mothers, as a mom who's been around, I beg of you to be a "Mother Who Knows" and learn what your children do on your computers. Did you know that the conversation turns to sex 40 times faster if children are chatting than if they were talking face-to-face? When interfacing live, there are filters that keep teenagers from saying what they may be thinking, but during an internet or cell phone chat, those filters are removed and our children take on a more anonymous persona. For this reason, I have told my children that they are to show me their chats at any time without advanced notice. And when the 15-year-old girl's friends sign up and try to chat while I'm on the computer, I love to surprise them and begin a chat, immediately identifying myself as the 15-year-old girl's mother, just so they know that I could be looking over her shoulder at any time.

And don't get me started about pornography. I've discussed that HERE if you want to know what I think about that. Suffice it to say, pornography can have deadly consequences, literally, and we must, at all costs, protect our children from it's evil influences.

What are your thoughts? I'd really like to know.

Thanks for listening.

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