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This week's article at the Moms site - What do you put on your children's daily to do list?

Four Things Children Should Do Everyday

Dear Lisa,

I read your article and it was fab! I have twin girls (11 1/2 years old) and one loves to read, one doesn't. One is obsessed with an internet game, one isn't. They both like to play with little squinkie toys together and that's when they laugh the most, which in turn makes me laugh.

I loved your article mainly because it was a simple read and it made me re-focus on what I need to do with my pre-teens. Thanks for that.

I will try the 4 things and let you know how it works out. We all get busy and lose focus...and I think your article will help many moms and dads re-focus.

Thanks, Allyson.

Your visit to the forum and your words about my simple article mean so much.

I wrote this one for other mothers as much as for myself. I recently had surgery and am stuck in the house for a month - I want to make sure my children do not get lost in movies and computers just because they'll be inside a lot.

Let me know how it goes. Somehow, my children who all love to read do not enjoy it as much in the summer….

Hi Lisa, (this is a little long..lol..but I think important)

Thanks for your comments. Me? Being NOT stuck in the house is stressful, as I can't control my girls' actions. My husband and I work opposite shifts, only because we don't have to pay for childcare.

Today we had an issue with my youngest twin. She is obsessed with an internet game called Star Stable. Maybe many visitors who scan over this post may recognize what I'm about to tell you.

Bear in mind she is 11 1/2 yrs old, however, very manipulative and clever, until she got caught. She was setting her alarm for 4 a.m. before school so that she could play the game. I fell asleep in my recliner one night writing an article when her phone went off in the bedroom and woke me up...that's how we got a clue!

Of course - having been caught - this morning she went into a raging fit because dad grounded her from that particular game/computer.

I have been receiving multiple texts at work..a nightmare like "you are like devils, you hate me, everybody hates me, why don't you just kill me...she even threatened to call the police on us...and so on. This game doesn't affect my other twin (the oldest) but it turns the other into something you would refer to as the anti-christ! I'm serious.

So, today my husband walked up to the school as I told him she was so distressed and disoriented when I walked with them. I was very concerned and crying. He spent 1 hour with the lovely social worker at school, just by walking in.

The social worker told my husband what she was doing was emotional blackmail - in the hopes that we will be scared enough by what she says, to cave in and let her do what she wants. He gathered lots of info from her and even doctors that were covered under their insurance for issues like this. Apparently it's huge!

And, after I told her in a text at work to "knock it off" I came home to the lovely little girl she has always been. She wanted to hug me - so I said "but you hate me!" She said, "I'm sorry."

She's a wonderful little girl and I want to hear the laughter again...because when these 2 girls laugh...they LAUGH! We are about to change that. It's all about setting parental controls. So now, the game is blocked on the computer but she's allowed to do other things within a time frame...which, by the way, she was upset about too! LOL

We'll get there. Please use this post for ideas on researching any of your articles...Mom's and dad's need to stick together so that the kids don't get the better of us!

wow! that is quite clever. how do they think of these things?

It is a whole new world for our children, and i do not think we do a great job modeling how to maneuver it. Meaning - we reach for our phone when it jingles in the car. We get irritated if they interrupt us while we are reading a text, an email, or something on the internet. We check our phones for messages whenever we come out of a meeting, arrive at home, or have one free moment.

We are teaching our children to keep their electronics at their sides. We are encouraging the 'addictions' to games and texts and responding. They do not know how to turn it off or fill their space with other things.

Good for you and your husband for involving the school social worker. Glad you uncovered your daughter's true essence. She's still in there!!

Good advice for all of us to make sure we are setting up appropriate boundaries - even if our children will be mad at us - even if it's easier for us not to… and, also, to make sure we are following those same boundaries in our own lives!!

Hi Lisa,

Thanks for your comments. And yes, it is a totally different world from where we "older" people came from. Some of us are not equipped to deal with addiction to the internet. To me - it was fun...to my child, something became an addiction.

Already, after posting the last thread, strides are being made...slowly but surely..and tonight my lovely twin girls laughed again. I haven't heard that in months.

may the laughter continue…..