My oldest daughter turned 16 in the last few days.  This is really a new challenge for my wife and me.  We are fairly protective as far as parents go.  We require our children to check-in and stay close to home.

For example, just a couple of weeks ago, we went to the movies with our kids.  I went to one movie with one child, my wife went to another with the youngest, and my eldest and third went to another.  Allison, my wife, gave clear instructions to the eldest (2 weeks from 16) to stay right outside the theater in the event that her and her sister got out first.

That really got me thinking.  In just two, short weeks our “little girl” will be old enough to take the car and brave the world.  That time has come.  Anyone who follows me on Twitter already knows that my girl earned her driver’s license last week.  She did earn it.  I spent hours teaching her to drive.  I loved every minute of it.  Teaching my child; preparing her for such a great responsibility was so much fun.  Now the fun is over.  Now she can take the keys and go where I can’t see her, hear her, or be more than a few seconds away from her.  She can go out alone.

I would like to say how I feel about this.  But I can’t.  I don’t know how I feel.  I am confused.  I am proud of her.  She accomplished a major life event.  I trust her.  She is a good kid, but what about every other idiot in the world.  Bad drivers, wet roads, and (I hate to even write this) dangerous people.  When she grabs the keys and leaves I am powerless to protect my baby.

Her major life event equals my major life event.  How will we handle her moving out or marriage?  Oh, and what of my other girls?  The day after my eldest turned 16 my youngest turned 11.  Allison and I have to re-live this three more times over the next five years.

Letting go…

I joined Twitter at the end of February 2009, a short three months ago.  Since then I have started following 115 people.  I find that I have a hard time keeping up with the small amount of people I follow.  I really have to wonder how users that follow hundreds or even thousands of people do it.  Keep in mind; this isn’t about how many people follow me, it is about how many people I follow.

I use Tweetdeck. I find the column functionality to be ideal for organizing the different people I follow. I run the following groups, “Close Follow”, “General Follow”, “Music”, “Famous People”, and “Business”, in addition to the default “All Friends”, “Replies”, and “Direct Messages.” Those of those that make my “Close Follow” group normally get sent straight to me mobile as well.

In the last couple of days I add a new group: “If I Can”.  It is really a group that I will read through if I can.  A lot of times it gets a quick scan then cleared.  I find that more and more of the people I follow are making this group.  I am on the fence about this.  I don’t auto-follow mind you, but as a general etiquette, I have started to follow back a lot of the people that follow me.

Reading all those tweets could easily become a full-time position.  This is time I don’t have.  Maybe I am being a bit naive, but I am of the mindset that I would rather follow people where I can have some level of relationship or get some personal value.  Keep in mind, I say this in reference to those I closely or generally follow.  Musician, authors, actors, etc. are not subject to this.  If I get a chance to see what the rich & famous are up to great, if not, oh well.

Perhaps I need to start a practice of going through those in my “If I Can” group.  If those people don’t start sparking direct conversation, perhaps it is time to unfollow.  Is this bad Twitter etiquette?  What are your thoughts?  Do you follow a lot of people and if so, are you capable of keeping up?

Ok, I registered my domain, got some hosting, created this blog and….

Exactly, dead space, nothing, nada, zip.  So hear it is, My First Post.  Tada!

I know, probably cheesy, maybe even lame, but I need something on this front page.  I really, truely, honestly am working on something worthing of putting out here.  The great opener!  A piece that will explain what this blog is all about.  If you knew me, you would know this is incredibly difficult for me.  I wish I had the communication skills of Bill Clinton, but I often come across like “W”.  I am sure my skill will develop as I put more out here.

Please be patient as I get my first real post ready and hone my communication and writing skills.

In the interim, please check out these blogs that I look at quite often to help me improve: Jamie Grove, Amy Palko, & Joanna Young.

Until next time…