Laptops are a Godsend to Two-Home Families
Communication is the key to successful co-parenting, and my ex-wife and I email each other daily about our children’s school assignments and extracurricular activities. Email diffuses disagreements and brings a business-like focus to our discussions.
Our high-school-age daughter has her own laptop, an essential tool for living in two homes. Ongoing projects are always with her. Plus, she interacts with classmates on Facebook and instant messenger. She’s a good student, and manages her time wisely.
Our middle-school son doesn’t have his own laptop yet. Online games would be a distraction, and his papers are short enough to write in a night. Besides, his cell phone texting plan provides plenty of fun. His teachers post grades online, so his mom and I can make sure he’s giving his best effort.
Laptops are a Godsend to two-home families.
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Comment by Twenty Four At Heart
| October 6th, 2008
I think it’s really admirable how focused you are on doing the right thing for your kids. Also, I can’t imagine any of our lives prior to laptops and cell phones!
Comment by mama llama
| October 7th, 2008
That is so true…I have discovered this as a great communicative tool even while living under the same roof–relieves a bit of tension, albeit quite sad.
Be well, Dads.
mama llama’s last blog post..clarity
Comment by lisaq
| October 7th, 2008
I too think it’s great that you and your ex can communicate about the kids in a constructive manner that obviously has their best interests at heart. It’s a rare thing. Kudos!
lisaq’s last blog post..Date Smart
Comment by SingleParentDad
| October 7th, 2008
All very good, and I’m a great advocate of the laptop, and a two computer household. Especially as laptops seem easier to break, and I’ve broken mine, which ‘virtually’ paralyses me!
SingleParentDad’s last blog post..Hi, I’m A Widower
Comment by Laura
| October 7th, 2008
mmm this is interesting! We arent really a two parent home but if we do become one then this does sound like a really cool plan!
Laura’s last blog post..Conversations in colour
Comment by Me Thinks
| October 7th, 2008
Okay, I’m the only asshole here I guess but I have to say it:
Yawn. What a boring post!
Yes, laptops are great for kids that go between two homes. So are cell phones. E-mail communication between parents is totally key to staying in touch and business-like. But come on, if you are going to endorse a product, make it at least somewhat intersting and tell us something we don’t know. You totally phoned this one in!
Comment by Lance
| October 7th, 2008
Dude, I didn’t get my own laptop until two years ago, right AFTER I graduated from grad school. Times are a-changing.
Comment by Single Mom in New England
| October 7th, 2008
Hi, I’ve got to agree with Me Thinks here – Congratulations (?) on getting sponsored, but don’t let it sanitize the zing out of your writing! How bout all that surfin’ for booty you do online?? :)
Comment by The Exception
| October 7th, 2008
Sadly, I am worse than Lance – I still use an old PC! (And my phone is not internet capable either). I do love the versatility of the lap top though. We can work absolutely anywhere and everywhere!! Throw in the Blackberry and we are on call 24/7! ;)
Great job with your kids though – I am sure I will have a lap top or the latest and greatest in computer technology sooner than later!
The Exception’s last blog post..Supporting Creativity
Comment by dadshouse
| October 7th, 2008
I have a Silicon Valley Moms Blog post coming later today – I thought it would be up by now. Sorry for the delay. Stay tuned… and meanwhile, celebrate the laptop as a Godsend for two-home families! (It really has helped our daughter, and kept peace between me and my ex)
Comment by Cathouse Teri
| October 7th, 2008
I didn’t get my own laptop until I started working for this company and they provided me with one! That’s gotta be cool to be a youngster and merit such a privilege!
Cathouse Teri’s last blog post..Beggars Would Ride
Comment by Mad Cartoonist
| October 7th, 2008
Dads, why you couldn’t just do file storage online that could be accessed from either house? I don’t see why a laptop is necessarily essential for a child not yet in college. Especially if both houses already have desktops or other computers that a child could use.
Right now, I’m happier that my kids are stuck using the desktop in the family room (and if they’re at their Dad’s house, they have to ask to use his work laptop). That way we can see exactly what they’re doing. Of course my kids are only 9 years old. They don’t even have cell phones yet, let alone laptops!
Slightly off topic, but apparently you are fine with your daughter using a social network site. Any comments on that? How old was she when you allowed it? I’ve only ever heard bad stuff about those sites, and I’m reluctant to think about ever letting my kids use them. Not knowing what they’re up to online would be my main problem with giving my kid a laptop.
Comment by dadshouse
| October 7th, 2008
MC – the problem is, we are all very reliant on our computers. When one of my kids works on my laptop, I can’t get my work done. And actually, that’s how we did it for a long time. This is her first year with a laptop, and it’s making a world of difference for us.
Keep in mind, she is 16. We live in Silicon Valley, and most every kid in the AP classes at her school have their own laptops. She’d fall behind without one. She doesn’t take hers to school, but she does use it daily for writing papers.
As for monitoring her use – her mom joined the same social networking sites and is “friends” with our daughter, so we have some notion of what’s going on. That said, she goes to college in less than two years. We need to give her more freedoms and responsibilities to prepare her for living away from home.
Comment by katherine.
| October 7th, 2008
we have all been well laptoped for quite a while…in fact in the past six months my three kids, (18, 21, 26) my mama (71) and I all got new laptops. Everyone paid for their own by the way.
and a laptop is a Godsend for a long distance (Two-Homed) relationship where you are going back and forth to each other’s home every other weekend.
katherine.’s last blog post..wordless wednesday ~ morning walks
Comment by NewWrldYankee
| October 8th, 2008
Lol I technically have a laptop, but not so much, as I have to hook it up to a monitor, speaker, keyboard and mouse for it to work – and even that is not a guarantee. This is the first day it’s worked since Friday – AACK!
Comment by Mad Cartoonist
| October 9th, 2008
Dads, yeah I know, and I’ll probably change my mind when my kids actually get to be your kid’s age. Plus, my weakness is technology, so how could I deprive my own kids?
My kids actually have their very own (desktop) computer so I don’t have to share mine. And also so I can load up their computer with tons of controls while not having to deal with that inconvenience myself.
I just think it’s probably hard for parents who can’t afford it to hear that something is “essential” when it’s not. Convenient, yes, but that’s not the same thing.
Comment by dadshouse
| October 9th, 2008
MC – I agree there is a difference between essential and convenient. But it’s gray. My daughter is 16, and I know from talking to other parents that she was one of the last kids in her class to get her own computer. (By her class, I don’t mean the entire school, I mean the kids in Bio AP, Honors Math, etc.)
She goes to college in less than 2 years. I hope that she is fluent and responsible on her laptop and internet use by then. She can only get that way if we give her freedom. So for her, I feel a laptop is essential at some point. Exactly when that point is, like I said, is gray. We felt it was time.