Parent Talk: Teen driving, pen pals

Going slow on teen driving

My 15-year-old son, a sophomore in high school, recently asked me if a friend of his who is a senior could drive him to a party. It was the first time he's asked me if a peer could drive him somewhere.

It struck terror in my heart.

As my son gets old enough for his friends to drive -- and he'll get his own learner's permit this summer -- I feel like I'm back to the nerve-racking days when he was a toddler and I had to worry about him putting something into his mouth and accidentally choking.

I'm right to be worried about kids and cars, especially this time of year. The start of summer also marks the beginning of the "100 Deadliest Days for Teens"-- the time between Memorial Day and Labor Day that is traditionally the deadliest for teen drivers. And in a federal study just out from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half of high school seniors admitted that they had texted or emailed while driving within the previous month. Yet another reason for the utmost parental concern.

A series of three videos on safe driving is available at BeSmartBeWell .com/teen-driving. One is advice for parents, another is teens talking about driving to each other, and the third is about parent-child agreements regarding rules when they're driving. I just watched them, and I'm going to make my son watch them as well. Maybe I'll require his friends watch them, too, before he's allowed in a car with any of them.

borrowing baby's cosmetics

From shampoos to diaper rash creams, companies are now creating products for babies and moms to share. "Moms love anything that's convenient, and many times they wind up using the same products that they use on their children," says Leslie Venokur, a native Long Islander who co-founded Big City Moms, a social group that connects moms, moms-to-be and families through events.

Video conferencing pals

In my day, I had pen pals. Those pen pals and I took the time to sit down and write letters, photograph ourselves with an old-school camera, have the film developed and printed, address an envelope, get the right postage on the envelope and then walk to a mailbox and put the letter inside. Then we had to wait for a reply that might not ever arrive.

Today, the written letter appears to be dead -- and I say, farewell.

Thanks to technology, children on separate continents don't have to use a writing instrument to stay in touch. Sure, there's email, but even better, there's video conferencing.

Facetime is my son Harrison's method of choice when he wants to talk to his Scottish "pen pal," Eoin (pronounced "Owen"). The 8-year-olds met on vacation during a ferry between Troon, Scotland, and Larne, Northern Ireland, and became instant friends.

Although their playdate lasted only as long as their voyage -- two hours -- their friendship has endured through their smart devices. Last week when they connected, they learned they had something in common, with some effort.

Eoin told Harrison he was in "Cubs." Harrison asked, "Cubes? I don't understand." Then Eoin said, "Cubs, like Scouts." Harrison asked, "Scoots?"

"No," said Eoin. "Boy Scouts."

"Ah," said Harrison, who mentioned he was in Boy Scouts, too.

Back in the day, that exchange would have taken a wee bit longer.