学进去

Two years ago, my 11-year-old son sat me down for a talk. “Mom, it’s time.” he said. “Hear me out: It’s time we got actual TV. And you need an iPhone.”

This funny conversation two years ago marked a shift in our relationship. Perhaps for the first time, I began to really listen to my son’s opinion about our home technology. Since his reasoning was sensible and his suggestions within budget, I took his advice and was pleasantly surprised with the results.

I’d known for a while that my son understands technology better than I do. On airplanes, he grabbed my phone to put it in airplane mode. He wired the speakers in our house. After something was stolen from our front yard, he picked out, set up, and now monitors our security camera. When my computer died. I took him shopping with me.

As a teenager now, he has a busy social life, with skateboarding, basketball, and online gaming with his friends. I see our time together decreasing and our shared interests shrinking. That’s why I jumped at the chance when a friend mentioned writing technology reviews. I’m a writer, but I’d need a partner who has more tech knowledge than me. When I presented the idea to my teen, he immediately accepted

It’s changed our relationship in surprising ways. Where he used to get annoyed quickly at my technical ignorance, he’s learned to be more patient and explain things to me in a way that I can convey to an unknowing audience. The parent-child dynamic is not only changed; it’s even slightly reversed—he’s leading me. I’m asking him for help and advice. My son has risen to the occasion. He’s taking it seriously, and to watch him mature in this way is an honor. As someone who’s not much of a reader, he now searches instruction book. Without any prompting, he’s even emailed and called, yes, made an actual phone call to customer service or tech support when sample products weren’t working as expected.

I never imagined being a tech reviewer, but it’s proved to be a valuable way to learn from, work with and enjoy time with my teen.