Sunday, 17 August 2008 19:00
We tend to believe that our children remain unequivocally safe at home, whether playing catch in the yard or zoned-out in their own world, playing video games quietly upstairs. Yet this may be changing. Video game consoles such as Xbox, Wii, and PlayStation now all have Internet access that enables a gamer to connect with other players through chat rooms or text and video messages. Games such as Halo and Grand Theft Auto have become community games where users can log-on via the console and chat with other users or message each other for tips. And not only teenagers use these features; even kids elementary school aged and younger have used the chat capabilities on games rated too mature for them to play. Yet, even knowing this, I still found a recent USA Today article shocking. The article outlined the newest version of a parent’s worst nightmare: child predators using this new form of Internet access to prey on children. 
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The age-old question, to be or not to be? At Mom Central, the answer remains clear: not "to be." 
Women everywhere dream of being “Soccer Moms.” The term, in fact, has come to represent those hands-on moms who do everything possible to ensure they remain deeply involved in their kids’ lives, no matter how busy they otherwise get. Soccer Moms, one can assume, are also PTA Moms, Carpool Moms, and Bake Sale Moms. But the term implies more than that. Soccer Moms (and Lacrosse Moms, Basketball Moms, Softball Moms, and so on) travel with video camera in hand (and have been known to turn warm-up footage into some great inspirational slide shows), spend time practicing with their kids on weekends (some even have a copy of the playbook), and, perhaps most importantly of all, can cheerlead with the best of them. These moms couldn’t wait for the day that their child first put on that adorable little uniform, laced up those cleats, and hit the field running (often in the wrong direction at first). It’s no surprise that moms everywhere race to sign up for the coveted Soccer Moms Club.
