Before and Aftermath

So you think technology makes our lives better?

Well not if MY children have anything to say about it! 

The photograph above is an actual before-and-after example of the war my children have declared on the technology in my home. Electronic devices in my home actually cry out (or would if they could) when of my teenagers amble into the living room. The list of technological casualties reads like a who's-who of 21st century electronic gizmos. 

And every gadget in my home is an endangered species. 

Maybe it's because they simply don't understand that sitting on remotes or sticking them in  your mouth or even carrying them into the bathroom (and dropping them) will have dire consequences. Whatever the case, this is a terrifying example of the devastation my children visit upon my household electronics. 

Cell phones? My daughter alone has lost, shattered or broken five in three years. iPods? One was lost in a matter of hours, never to be heard–or heard from–again. Another was washed and just hasn't worked quite right ever since. Who knew? PSP? Shattered on the pavement. Nintendo DS? Met an untimely demise on schoolyard concrete. I once bought them a used laptop. Let's just say it took a couple days to find the screen, even though the keyboard portion was found under a bed. And wrist watches? Bwah-hahahaha. Oh dear lord, no. My children: 17  Watches: 0. The list of electronic casualties in my home is staggering. 

ADD. ADHD. Absent mindedness. Lack of caring. Ignorance. Honestly, your guess is as good as mine. Maybe they simply take fantastic technology for granted, I guess we all do to some degree at this point. Who even knows. 

Despite my best efforts, this new generation of teens, at least in my house, have no respect for things they have received. I get the whole 'nothing given has value' lesson now, I do. And my wallet cries at the thought of every infraction and lost tech at the hands of my techno-termites.

The Caveat? I have no fear of the machines taking over and Terminators hunting us down. I merely need to unleash my children on them and that will be all she wrote.

Game. Set. Match.