I met my Hubby online. I know all the weird stories you hear about all the weird people that frequent online chat sites, so I guess we are both weird. I did not even chat and then I ended up there by chance one day, without a clue how all this worked….and one morning at 4am when I could not sleep I popped into a chat room and he said hello. We had loads to chat about and a month later he came to meet me. All the way to Durban. I was surprised. I just thought it was a bit of chat and then there he is to see me. I did not even know what he looked like till we met. And it was a week of joy and fun and butterflies. I’ll always remember the first week we were together. And then I think to myself what a stupid thing it was to meet a guy alone, some guy you had only chatted to for a month. I did not even think about the dangers of meeting strange males from the internet. I just decided this was thing to do. I was young and naive and I was lucky.
A month later I visited him in PTA. This time we stayed together….and we did not even do the deed. Slept in the same bed for a week with the hormones raging like you would not believe and we were strong that week.
I went back home and thought to myself, this guy is in love with you, do you love him? I was not sure and I was sure not going to find out 600kms away. I decided to move to PTA. Crazy and not the impulsive thing I normally do, I guess some things are just meant to be crazy. I found a job here, told my parents I was moving and drove here four months after our first meeting and only having met him twice. And I moved straight into his place. I told my parents about him some months later (they had already guessed) and we were engaged a year after meeting. Now we are married and so much in love still.
Thinking about how we got together and the speed with which it all happened I wonder if kids should be allowed phones with internet. I was no child, I was in my twenties already. What do teens do? Little kids have phones. Is it right or wrong? Surely exposure to things like MXit is not good for young children…there are so many creepy types out there. Sexual deviants and just downright bad people. Its scary, but cell phones open up this world of possibility.
But then we should not protect kids too much surely? We need to let them out in the real world so they toughen up and become wise to the dangers. Is there a way to do this without destroying childhood? I sometimes wish my parents had told me more about what the world is about, instead of the protected childhood I had. I did, however, have a very happy childhood. My parents protected me from the bad stuff too. And it was a soft childhood. My Hubby still calls me an innocent.
What do parents out there do? How does one protect kids without molly-coddling?
Notes to Honeybear 
I think Communication is key. You have to talk to your kids about these things. In a tactical way. Point out things in the news. Etc. Communicate, communicate, communicate.
Interesting to hear how you met…
Wow! an online romance that worked.Our kids are exposed to so much these days that it is hard to keep them kids.We just have to be open and honest and talk to them about the dangers and pray that they listen and don’t think that as parents we are cramming their style.have a fabulous evening!
What a nice story.
One only hears the bad stuff, because it is news. Good news is swept away, so guess where our expectations lie?I told my kids everything, My daughter accepted what I said, but my son, wanted to know where was the bag of seeds?
I think that children should stay away from Mxit, simply because children are vulnerable and they have no idea who is on the other side of the line. The person can pretend to be a 14 year old, but can be a 44 year old with bad intentions. The child will only find out when it is too late, and so will the parent. About confronting them with the real world? Do it slowly. There is so much time for them to experience the real world. Let them be kids as long as they can.
😉
I think communication is the big key here. I don’t think there’s any way to keep children from doing things without them going behind one’s back to do something that they’ve been barred from. So the best thing I’d say is to have an open and honest conversation about the various types of dangers that lurk out there.Equipping one’s children with knowledge is definitely a key to them being aware of the dangers that internet and technology brings.
Your story is so very beautiful. But you’re right – kids are not ready. I have warned my daughter about the internet, MXit, etc. When she asks me when she can have unsupervised internet, I simply tell her that I don’t know. x
Morning Arcat! hope you are wellHave a great day!