You Better Watch Out...

Remember when you were little and the holidays were on the horizon and that meant that somewhere there was a stash of presents?  A stash you were determined to find.  So, you would rush home from school to snoop around.  You would search the house when your parents were busy.  You would nearly get caught a dozen times.  That is sooo old school!  My friends, the art of present sleuthing has changed. 

How do I know this?  Because nearly every Monday through Friday I spend a portion of my day in my son's 4th grade class.  I'm not paid for this.  Believe it or not, it is by choice and not some court mandated community service.  The kids look forward to me showing up - even if it does mean studying vocabulary.  I'm novel because I am not their teacher.  I'm non-threatening because I don't give out grades.  They love to talk, to brag, to spill their secrets.  They naively view me as a friend instead of the parental spy that I really am.

Today we were talking about the holidays and what gifts they are hoping to receive.  A few kids divulged that they had already found out what they were getting.  Did they go the traditional route of snooping in closets and under beds?  Rummaging through the garage and basement?  Checking the trunk of the car?  Looking in the attic?  Of course not, people!  This is the information age.  You're kids are digging in your computer!  And they know where to look.  They are launching all the browsers.  They are checking out your history to see what sites you have been on.  They are scouring your search engines to see what you have been researching.  They know that you have been comparing electronic readers.  They are even attempting to log on to your UPS account to view tracking notices in hopes of seeing which stores are shipping to you.  Fortunately, they seem to respect that email is off-limits.  And they reported that they do get stymied by those pesky user names and passwords.  But it's only a matter of time.  You have been warned.