Is This Normal?
The chaos that is the KerbersArchive for blog
Scariest conference ever
This afternoon my co-worker Caroline and I attended a professional workshop about Internet safety. Truly, this could have been one of the most worrisome workshops I’ve ever attended. The woman who presented to us was from the state’s attorney’s office in Springfield. Her job is to work on Internet safety prevention in school and with young people. The information she had for us, and even more so the statistics she had to share, were staggering. Cyberbullying is growing at such an astonishing rate that it’s now reported that 1 in 4 teens have been harassed, embarrassed, teased, and/or bullied in some digital format, and only 20% of these teens report the abuse. Cyberbullying has grown so much because it can all be anonymously, and the bully never has to see the actual reaction of the victim, which is often the only thing that makes bullies stop.
It’s so hard to be a teenager these days. One of the points our speaker made really hit home with me. When we were teenagers, there was a built-in filter for many forms of communication that just don’t exist today. For example, we had to get to know our friends’ parents, because when we called their house, the parents answered. Also, we wouldn’t ever take pictures of anything really incriminating, because we knew that those pictures had to be developed in a store, and strangers would see them. Currently, kids have complete peer-to-peer contact at all times. The natural filters are just gone.
Hearing the information presented in this workshop was important, but kind of depressing for me. I hope that we can pass the information along to our staff in a way that will convey the true danger of all of this instant communication. It’s really an important issue in education today.
Happy anniversary, “Is This Normal”
Today marks the first anniversary of my blog. I know that I have a few faithful readers, and I do think that’s awesome. But I never really mind when my reader stats are low, because as it was a year ago, my motivation for writing this blog is purely selfish. My hope is to get all of my posts published into a book each year to keep and give to my kids when they are old enough to appreciate it. I hope that someday they will cherish the stories and thoughts I had about our family and specifically about them. I know I could never remember everything I’d want to tell them, so hopefully this blog will do that.
The blog has evolved since it first started, and that’s one of the things I love about it best. In January I started the Project 365 section, and while I haven’t always been great a bout keeping up with posting the pictures, I have been diligent about taking pictures every day. I can’t believe, when I look back now, how much the kids have changed in just a short time. I’ve really enjoyed participating in this project, but it has been time-consuming. I’m currently debating whether I will do it again for 2010. One thing I have decided, though, is to try to blog about more of the mundane, every day aspect of our lives. I think that the posts like quotes of the day, or simple little comments from the kids are some of my favorites. I hope to include them more.
If you’re reading this, thanks for checking out “Is this Normal?” from time to time. I hope you’ve liked it, and will continue to keep up with the Kerbers!
New Year’s Eve
This holiday has never really been a big deal to me. We rarely have any plans, and to be honest, I often don’t even stay awake to midnight! But it is definitely time for me to reflect on the year that was and the year that is coming up.
2008 was the year that:
- We lost Dave’s Aunt Ruth
- We finished our basement
- Ryan had ACL surgery
- Emma turned 1
- Emma learned to walk
- We made the move to a minivan
- We discovered the public library
- Ben turned 3
- We spent a lot of time at State Farm pool
- Ben mastered swimming alone with his swimmies
- Dave and I both turned the big 40
- Ben started Sunday school and preschool
- Our basement flooded
- We lost my Uncle Jim
- I started this blog
- Ben got potty trained
- Emma got 4 stitches on her forehead
As you can tell, there were many more good things than bad this year, for which we are thankful. I hope that we can always remember the good things, and think about the lessons we learned from the bad. As everyone always says, the year flew by. It is so true that the older you get the faster they go. Sometimes I just want to slow things down so I can soak in everything that’s happening around me. Of course, other times I want to speed up time…but just when the kids are making me crazy!! 
Who really knows what 2009 will bring our family. A few of the things I’m looking forward to are:
- A trip to Vegas with school friends in January
- A trip to Florida (we hope) over Spring Break
- Tearing down our deck and building a patio
- RyRy graduating from high school and starting college
- Celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary
- A new challenge at school when my current coworker retires and I begin working with a new media specialist in August
I’m sure there will be so many more joys and challenges for the Kerber family in 2009, and I look forward to finding out what they are. May you all have a safe and fun night tonight, and have a healthy and happy new year.
Hello world!
I finally delved into the world of blogging, after months and months of thinking, “I wish I would have started a blog a long time ago.” I figured no better time to start than the present, right? Now I just have to convince someone that our lives are interesting enough to read about!
