S05.E03: Changes

[debraran]

2 hours ago, Jeddah said:

In that case, what’s the point?

Maybe because kids seem to like their phones. I know some teens who have every device and still do things on their phone with a smaller screen. It seems more personal. They can't in our time, take away a computer because that's mostly what kids use. During Covid, it's even more so, zoom and other social contact with school, teacher and classmates. I think they were just setting a point that her phone is a privilege and she can't do something like what she did on a laptop easily. I doubt she will be cut off from her friends, but calls/texts on her phone, yes. I am older but rarely use my phone for most things, I love my touch screen laptop. I text on phone and my ipad has texting but skype, messenger, etc is on computer also.

Also the grounding was part of it but really where can you go? My neighbors kids only have skype etc and don't go over each others houses. Some talk outdoors 6 feet apart and I can't see Randall saying she couldn't do that at home. There's too much depression which he understands being so isolated.

Edited November 29, 2020 by debraran

[Jeddah]

18 minutes ago, debraran said:

Maybe because kids seem to like their phones. I know some teens who have every device and still do things on their phone with a smaller screen. It seems more personal. They can't in our time, take away a computer because that's mostly what kids use. During Covid, it's even more so, zoom and other social contact with school, teacher and classmates. I think they were just setting a point that her phone is a privilege and she can't do something like what she did on a laptop easily. I doubt she will be cut off from her friends, but calls/texts on her phone, yes. I am older but rarely use my phone for most things, I love my touch screen laptop. I text on phone and my ipad has texting but skype, messenger, etc is on computer also.

I know how phones and computers work. My question is what’s the point of punishing her by taking away her phone if she can do everything she could do on her phone? I thought the six weeks was way too strict. But if it’s what you’re describing, then it’s completely pointless. Randall and Beth are ridiculous if they think, “Now she has to use her tablet or laptop instead of her phone! That’ll teach her!”

Edited November 29, 2020 by Jeddah

[debraran]

2 minutes ago, Jeddah said:

I know how phones and computers work, but thanks. My question is what’s the point of punishing her by taking away her phone if she can do everything she could do on her phone? I thought the six weeks was way too strict. But if it’s what you’re describing, then it’s completely pointless. Randall and Beth are ridiculous if they think, “Now she has to use her tablet or laptop instead of her phone! That’ll teach her!”

I realize you know but many don’t think about other sources. It’s a show and it’s covid and I think their main focus was to show they didn’t tolerate her behavior and her preferred means of communicating by texting ( maybe no iPad) was taken away . She’s not cut off from world and I doubt she will do that again since she’s Randall’s kid 🙂 

[Jeddah]

2 minutes ago, debraran said:

I realize you know but many don’t think about other sources. It’s a show and it’s covid and I think their main focus was to show they didn’t tolerate her behavior and her preferred means of communicating by texting ( maybe no iPad) was taken away . She’s not cut off from world and I doubt she will do that again since she’s Randall’s kid 🙂 

I hope they didn’t cut her off from her friends. This just makes me think Randall acted tough, but it was all a show.

[chocolatine]

It's probably that Tess gets to use her computer for school and homework - and any interaction with her classmates that is necessary in that context - but once homework is done in the evening she has to hand over all of her devices to her parents so she can't have social interaction. So she has to fill her free time with other things, such as interacting with her family or reading. I don't think that's "isolating" since she does get to interact with her friends during the day, and she always has her parents and sisters to talk to. But it's enough of a punishment for her to contemplate what she did wrong and maybe think about how she could have handled the situation better.

Edited November 29, 2020 by chocolatine

[CrystalBlue]

10 hours ago, debraran said:

I know I'm being picky but if I took my daughters phone away only, she has her ipad and laptop from school so she'd be fine. I doubt a teen in Randall's house has only a phone but for the script, they got the point across. They aren't going to keep her off her computer and skype, text and FB messaging, Instagram still exists. I doubt they will hover over her all day. I think they got their point across. Sure kids want their phones but calls are the last thing they do on them and many things can be done on more than one device.

So, I pander to the snowflake crowd, and then get blasted because Tess has a myriad of other things she can do besides a traditional cell phone call?  😀  If I were Beth and Randall, I wouldn't have taken away anything, but have her do some kind of extra household chores or "community service" type of philanthropy instead of having a mopey teenager cooped up in her room.  You know, because mental health!  😁😉

[chocolatine]

19 minutes ago, CrystalBlue said:

So, I pander to the snowflake crowd, and then get blasted because Tess has a myriad of other things she can do besides a traditional cell phone call?  😀  If I were Beth and Randall, I wouldn't have taken away anything, but have her do some kind of extra household chores or "community service" type of philanthropy instead of having a mopey teenager cooped up in her room.  You know, because mental health!  😁😉

I agree that Tess should have to do chores and community service, but not as punishment. It's normal for children her age to have responsibilities around the house (when I was her age I had to make dinner several nights a week because both of my parents worked multiple jobs). And seeing how important community service is to Randall, he should be involving all of his daughters in it, not just Tess. That could give Tess a way to channel her activism more productively.

[debraran]

1 hour ago, CrystalBlue said:

So, I pander to the snowflake crowd, and then get blasted because Tess has a myriad of other things she can do besides a traditional cell phone call?  😀  If I were Beth and Randall, I wouldn't have taken away anything, but have her do some kind of extra household chores or "community service" type of philanthropy instead of having a mopey teenager cooped up in her room.  You know, because mental health!  😁😉

Hey, as an adult, when furlouged, if I couldn't watch movies, text my coworkers and talk on FB, I'd go crazy. It was my coworkers and friend that kept me sane while my family I was cloistered with, drove me nuts. ; )  Thankfully we had 3 bedrooms and not a small apartment.

[JudyObscure]

On 11/29/2020 at 1:12 PM, debraran said:

I realize you know but many don’t think about other sources.

Like me.  I had to read your post a couple of times to figure out what it was all about.  Some of you may remember, a few years ago, when you had to explain to me what Wi-Fi was and why Beth wasn't rude asking her hostess if she could plug in.

 I'm still living with one land line phone,( never had a cell phone) this computer (no  Facebook) and cable TV.  Someone gave me an early Christmas present that was something caller a Roku Ultra.  When I saw it was an electronic  device I almost cried.  How do you all manage the learning curve that goes with these things?  The very first words in the instruction manual were about hooking up a certain cable, "not provided."

Does Randall not only have to buy all these things for his family but hook them all up and keep them all working?   No wonder he has panic attacks.

 

[gonzosgirrl]

1 hour ago, JudyObscure said:

Does Randall not only have to buy all these things for his family but hook them all up and keep them all working?   No wonder he has panic attacks.

I'm almost certain that kids are now born knowing how these things work. I've seen 2 and 3 year-olds not only playing games on mom's phone, but showing her how they work. LOL!

[JudyObscure]

29 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

I'm almost certain that kids are now born knowing how these things work. I've seen 2 and 3 year-olds not only playing games on mom's phone, but showing her how they work. LOL!

I'm sure in two or three generations human thumbs will be a lot longer.

[Quof]

I asked my mother for her Wi Fi password. She looked puzzled. I said "You know, how you go on the internet."  Answer?  "I go on the internet with Google."

[chocolatine]

19 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

I'm sure in two or three generations human thumbs will be a lot longer.

It's a good thing evolution doesn't work that fast. 😂

[bros402]

8 hours ago, gonzosgirrl said:

I'm almost certain that kids are now born knowing how these things work. I've seen 2 and 3 year-olds not only playing games on mom's phone, but showing her how they work. LOL!

Nah, parents just hand kids phones or tablets starting around one year if they start to make noise

[ljenkins782]

On 12/2/2020 at 4:03 PM, JudyObscure said:

Like me.  I had to read your post a couple of times to figure out what it was all about.  Some of you may remember, a few years ago, when you had to explain to me what Wi-Fi was and why Beth wasn't rude asking her hostess if she could plug in.

 I'm still living with one land line phone,( never had a cell phone) this computer (no  Facebook) and cable TV.  Someone gave me an early Christmas present that was something caller a Roku Ultra.  When I saw it was an electronic  device I almost cried.  How do you all manage the learning curve that goes with these things?  The very first words in the instruction manual were about hooking up a certain cable, "not provided."

LOL, that is certainly not helpful.

To be honest, I feel like electronics these days are far easier to set up than they were even 20 years ago. I still recall our first DVD player that ONLY my sister's then-boyfriend knew how to set up and use. There were more steps to set it up and you needed to switch inputs on the TV all the time. 

Now I just yank the HDMI cord (that would be the "not provided" cord) out of the cable box and stick it in the Roku if I want to use that and put it back in the cable box when I want regular TV. 1999 me would be ever so impressed! 

I realize it was a tricky subject with Tess because the adults in the environment weren't acting right, but posting a (dorky) video was dumb. The internet has way too long a memory and you never know what might catch fire and go viral for one reason or another. Just not worth it.

[JudyObscure]

12 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

Now I just yank the HDMI cord (that would be the "not provided" cord) out of the cable box and stick it in the Roku if I want to use that and put it back in the cable box when I want regular TV.

Could you come over?  You've told me more in one sentence than that whole manual.  My husband had said we couldn't use the Roku because the place to plug it in  was already full of the cable cord.  We didn't know you could yank  it and not have something blow up.   

[bros402]

On 12/8/2020 at 9:09 AM, JudyObscure said:

Could you come over?  You've told me more in one sentence than that whole manual.  My husband had said we couldn't use the Roku because the place to plug it in  was already full of the cable cord.  We didn't know you could yank  it and not have something blow up.   

you could also get an HDMI hub - our TV has two HDMI ports. One is for the DVR and another is for our HDMI hub, which has the prime TV, and some consoles plugged in. When we want to switch to another thing, we press a button on the hub.

[OdinO.]

On 11/10/2020 at 10:21 PM, PepSinger said:

I agree. It's beyond ridiculous that the teacher wouldn't use the child's pronouns. In addition, it's 2020. You'd think people would know by now not to touch our hair -- or anyone's hair.

Count me in with those who think Tess' punishment was too harsh. Three or four weeks? Okay. Six? WTH? She didn't use any swear words, and keeping her grounded that long isn't going to teach her anything. Also, as someone noted, Tess needs a computer/laptop to do her online schooling, so she'll still have access to the Internet. 

Is it still okay to sniff hair?

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Toby is the family's blame piñata

Kevin opens up to Madison about his unhealthy stuff