Who knew this would be a job? Blogging at Blogalicious

Hey y'all! I'm down in my old neighborhood - Atlanta, Georgia! Hubby and I lived here for a bit after we finished getting educated.  I'm here for the Blogalicious! Conference - a social media collaboration for multicultural bloggers.  

 

Being here is so far from where I even imagined when I first claimed "slackermomof4.blogspot.com" as my online space. Let me tell you how much blogging was a passing experiment for me when I started - I went to Korea for a week and didn't even post! What? Yes. Not a tweet, nothing. I think there might've been a Facebook post?  So here I am, enjoying some delicious biscuits and butter at a conference to learn how to make this digital spot a better experience for the both of us, you & me.

 

There's a lot of tech-y stuff being talked about. SEOs and mobile capabilities and analytics and such, much of which I will have to have hubby decipher and re-explain to me when I get home (or one of the kids) so I won't bore you with all that.  But I did want to share with you something I've realized with much more clarity while here, just in one day.

 

(Pausing to taste this shrimp & grits.)

For all we stress about over what our kids are learning or not learning, whether they are in a magnet program or academy or whatever special program - and, I'm including myself in that stressed out parent group - the important thing is that our kids not only learn at a challenging level, but that they learn to learn and to be flexible.  We don't know what they will be when they grow up, because we don't even know what there will be to be when they grow up.

 

A hundred years ago, folks were farmers and planned for their kids to be farmers.  And they grew up to be farmers. Some time after that, folks did the same in being assembly workers.  Then somewhere in the recent past, folks were typewriter repairmen and their kids studied typesetting and they became computer programmers.

 

Today, one of the presenters was the social media manager for Kerry Washington. Her job, among other things, is to watch TV, know what Olivia Pope is wearing and be ready to answer Scandal-ous tweets.  And  maybe, I'm guessing,  say "hey!" to Columbus Short every now and then.  I'm guessing.  That is what the woman gets paid to do. Her college major? International business. You see the connection? Right, exactly. She moved from one job to the next, learning as she went and parlaying that and the network she built into the next move.

 

Harriette Cole is here. Did you get married in the 90's? Perhaps you used her book, Jumping the Broom, to plan your wedding. I did. She used to be an editor at a magazine. She now, also among other things, has a crocheted clothing business. See the connection? Now you see what I'm saying?  They've changed, they've adapted, they've learned.

 

Closer to home, my daughter is taking a photography class in high school. I did, too. Do you need a camera, is the class fee for chemicals, you shouldn't wear your best clothes on film developing day, I said when school started. Her response: I have a phone, the fee is for paper, what film?

 

Everything's constantly changing. For our kids to be successful whatever's when they grow up, it's not important that they learn today's technology and lingo and market forever and ever. But they do need to learn it to understand their current world and learn how to learn about the world as it changes tomorrow.

 

As for me? I'm going to finish this peach vodka cocktail (hey, it's Georgia!), go peek at these crocheted creations and then go tweet about this season's white suit. And  her you-know-who in the back of the car!