I was innocently checking her phone.

Guess who just lost her phone for a good long time?

Yes, that’s her on TikTok.

I had to use her phone to figure out something with her watch and she was out of space so I was going to delete some photos/videos…and found this. And then a whole slew of videos.

UMMMMM WHAAAAAAAAT?!

I had TikTok locked down. I had no idea how she did this. Originally I didn’t even think to look at the time stamps on her phone…but they were last night between 10-11:15. After bedtime.

Ugh.

To start with, she knows TikTok isn’t allowed, let alone her having her own account. Even legally, you have to be 13. But there she was, with a bunch of videos uploaded!

UGH.

And a few of them were completely inappropriate.

UGHHH.

And I couldn’t even figure out how to delete her account—I had to prove I was her by verifying her email (which I had access to) but it wasn’t working.

UGHHHHH.

Then I noticed another new account she shouldn’t have had. And a bunch of new apps I don’t remember her asking for.

It was a long and frustrating day. But she’s lucky I had all day to calm down while she was at school…because I was LIVID.

So Tom was home and we presented a united force. During our conversation, she finally told us how she was able to do it. Are you ready? When I was gone to Ohio, Owen snagged Tom’s phone (because he hadn’t changed his password after the last incident) to log into the app we use to control their phones and give himself more time allowance—and Katie said she wanted stuff, too, so they changed all sorts of permissions. She lost her devices for a month. And I deleted almost every app off her phone.

So then we called Owen down. And after a bit, he admitted that he did that. We were really surprised and upset because he got in trouble for this exact thing previously. So, since it was his second offense, he lost devices for two months. Katie wasn’t smart enough to keep her mouth shut and said well she did it before, too…so fine, we increased her one month to two. So both have lost their devices for two months (phones, ipads, Xbox).

Technology and social media is a nightmare. We were doing the right things with programs meant to help us and protect them but they got around it. Good times.

To Owen’s credit, he REALLY handled it all well. Tom and I had anticipated Owen losing his crap because this was the biggest punishment he’s received… but he was actually amazing! You could obviously tell he was disappointed, but he didn’t lose his cool at all, stayed calm, didn’t try to hurt himself, didn’t storm off or cry… We were both surprised and thrilled.

Katie, on the other hand, ended up fighting and arguing and yelling and crying and slamming her door. After about an hour she was okay.

I don’t like this part of parenting.

Surprise I hurt my back.

About two weeks ago I dropped my phone behind the bed. Tom managed to get it out but unknowingly unplugged the bed (it has USB ports in it so it needs to be plugged in) so nothing is charging and no cables work. I’ve not even been charging my phone at night because I haven’t wanted to figure it out.

Fast forward to last night when I thought I had FINALLY gotten a cable working. Aaaand no. And then I dropped my phone BEHIND THE BED AGAIN. Not reachable at all.

So I got super pissed and rage pulled the nightstand away from the bed. I knew I’d pay for it today and yep, my back hurts. I hate being old and broken.

And yes, I also hate all the cords but they’re generally hidden.

Yes, the adults still had devices.

Part of the reason the kids didn’t have their devices was because the WiFi wasn’t working well and the system just couldn’t support everyone at one time. But really it was mostly because all the kids have better behavior when they aren’t on devices and they aren’t even an option.

We weren’t on them all the time, but this was a rainy chilly day so we were just relaxing while the kids were having Insect Fight Club.

Busted!

Parenting is always an adventure!

Tonight Tom and I were going to bed about 10:30 and I heard voices upstairs. What? Tom snuck up and caught Katie FaceTiming with Gramma Jean! GRRR! She knows devices aren’t allowed at night. She knows her bedtime. (That said, it was cute but she’s such a stinker to think she can get away with it. On a school night no less. When she knows she’s not really even supposed to have her device.)

I called Gramma immediately and she just told me yes they were talking and Katie was helping her with something on the iPad. I wasn’t mad at my mom for sure but just frustrated with Katie. Neither kid makes good decisions when it comes to technology and Tom and I are at our limits. (I don’t think I mentioned this, but about two weeks ago Katie lost her devices for an indeterminate amount of time because she downloaded TikTok and Instagram on her phone!)

Gramma said: Busted! Katie has been calling me on Face Time pretty late in the evening, certainly past her bedtime. Last night she was trying to teach me how to record a video instead of typing. Jen and Tom were downstairs watching TV and then started turning off everything to head to bed. Tom heard some noise and they discovered Katie on her iPad. OOPS. Jen called me immediately and Tom said “gramma is grounded!”

Owen made me laugh out loud in Aldi.

We have been leaving the kids for short amounts of time to go run errands. Tonight we decided to run to Aldi.

Owen generally texts us at some point just to check in and let us know they’re okay. This was today’s conversation.

I about died when I read his WTH comment. I mean yeah, technically swearing, but it fit perfectly. I actually couldn’t stop laughing as we were walking through Aldi.

Bitmoji iPad tech support

So the iPad lessons have been continuing and tonight I was helping Mom setup Snapchat and Bitmoji because she wanted a fun Bitmoji.

We were having fun when Katie came in and wanted to help. It was funny. Gramma Jean was looking at the type of body to use and said “OH NO! I have to use the last one (plump)” and Katie spread her arms to the Heavens and said “No, make yourself skinny!” So damn cute. Mom and I laughed and laughed.

Here’s the first Bitmoji she published to Facebook!

Gramma is funny.

So I’d say my mom is somewhat computer literate but she hasn’t jumped into iOS at all (to give you an idea, they have a TracFone).

But this year she got her first iPad for Christmas from us kids…and I’ve been giving her small lessons. It’s a totally new experience for her but she’s doing well–I’ve been using iOS since 2009 so sometimes I forget how overwhelming it can all be.

So tonight a bunch of us were talking and she was standing by me when she took a photo and she asked if I wanted it so I told her to Airdrop it to me (something I taught her last night) and without hesitation she dropped the iPad into my lap.

The room never laughed so hard. #scoreoneformom #micdrop