Lori Drew was indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles today.

Who is Lori Drew?

Back in 2006, two thirteen-year-old girls, who had been friends their whole life, had a falling out. Lori Drew, the mother of one of those girls, decided to step in. She, along with a teenage co-worker in her store, decided to create a fake MySpace page for a sixteen-year-old boy named Josh Evans. Using this page, she befriended her daughter’s ex-friend, Megan Meier. Lori used this page to find out what Megan was saying about her daughter. Megan and “Josh” started an online romance. But then “Josh” decided he didn’t want to have a girlfriend who was mean and told Megan as much. In his last message to Megan he told Megan telling her the world would be a better place without her. Megan was devastated by the breakup and hung herself in her closet.

Previously the Missouri prosecutor (where the Drew’s and Meier’s live) said he couldn’t find a statute to charge Lori Drew with. But the federal grand jury in Los Angeles thinks differently. They have indicted her on charges of conspiracy and accessing protected computers to obtain information to inflict emotional distress. She faces up to 20 years in prison.

How do you feel about this new development? Do you think Lori Drew should be held accountable? Should it be illegal for adults to bully teenagers on the internet?

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This weekend Ford flew my oldest and I to Chicago for the Driving Skills for Life event. Driving Skills for life was established in 2003 and is the most comprehensive teen driver safety program. The program provides web-based materials, comprehensive curriculum, and hands-on vehicle safety instruction for teenagers, parents and educators. It differs from other driving programs in that they work with communities for months prior to the driving event to inspire teens to promote safety with their peers. The two month contest in Chicago challenged area high schools to develop the best and most comprehensive safe driving community campaign. Each school was given a $3000 budget to conduct their program, with additional prizes to the first, second and third place schools.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, auto accidents are the leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 20. Teen drivers, mile to mile, are in three times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers. And nearly 7,000 teens die annually in traffic crashes. This program has helped reduce teen fatalities dramatically in Tazewell County, IL. So it works to keep our teens safe.

On Monday we were chauffeured to the US Cellular stadium to participate in the driving event with a local school who came in third in the contest. There we met up with professional drivers who helped us improve our driving skills in hazard recognition, vehicle handling, speed management and space management. Ford research shows these four areas are the cause of more than 60 percent of teen traffic accidents.

We started at the hazard recognition station. We began at one end of the track. Near the middle of the track it branched out in to three lanes. There were three stop lights at the end of the track. You were supposed to get the car up to around 30 mph and when you got to where it branched, two of the lights turned red and you had to quickly turn to go down the green lane. It sounds easier than it was. My oldest was nervous and didn’t want to do it so I went first. I took out two cones on my first try. I’m pretty sure I took out more cones than any of the students did. After that my oldest was ready to give it a try. I’d like to say I took out the cones just to make him feel better, but really I just suck at hazard recognition. I hope no small children or animals run out in front of me. Although the professional driver did tell me I did a great job of keeping control of the car. A lot of the students fish tailed, but I didn’t. So I may run over squirrels, but at least I’ll have control of the car. BTW, my oldest did great and didn’t hit any cones. Or fish tail.

Then we moved on to speed and space management. There we drove around a circular track, navigating the curves at different speeds. Our first test was to try to change the radio station or set the GPS while driving. It showed how distractions really slow you down. He also taught us to take the curves wide. On one part of the track there was a sign that said, “To the right.” After my second run they turned the sign around and I was supposed to go to the left. But I didn’t even notice and still went to the right like I had the first two times. Clearly I should not be on the roads. I take out cones. I turn the wrong way. I’m a mad woman. And once again, my oldest did great on this course. I’m starting to think maybe he needs to give me lessons instead of the other way around.

The final test was about skidding. We were running late so I let my oldest go skidding without me. He got to drive a Ford Mustang for this one. He was very excited. And he learned how to control the car when you go in to a skid.

We had so much fun at this event. My son was so thrilled to be a part of it and he really learned a lot. This is a wonderful program to help our teens learn defensive skills on the roads and to keep them safe. Check out their website at http://www.drivingskillsforlife.com for training for your teen and to become eligible for prizes. On the website parents can gain valuable knowledge to guide their teens and educators can download materials for lesson plans. Surprising, parents are three times more likely to talk to their teens about drugs and alcohol than safe driving. Talk to your teens about driving to keep them safe.

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My daughter’s love music and are always singing along to their favorite songs. For Mother’s Day my 9 year old decided to give me a very unique and thoughtful gift. She took it upon herself to record a special Mother’s Day message for me and a song. The song she chose to sing and record was Carrie Underwood’s All American Girl.

She had obviously thought this out because the whole week ahead of time she would close the playroom door and tell me she was working on a top secret project. However, little sisters, big brothers, cats, phones and other interruptions kept her from getting the song recorded. Saturday evening after little sister was in bed, she and my husband finished it up.

She was so proud of her efforts and I was so touched by her thoughtfulness! It was definitely one of the best Mother’s Day gifts I have received in my 12 years of motherhood.

She’s my sweet little beautiful, wonderful, perfect All-American Girl.

Image: Newscom

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Like my shiny new purple golf clubs? Mr. WearyParent finally took my request for golf clubs seriously and he and the kids got me a set for Mother’s Day. When I first asked for them a few years ago, he laughed at me - literally - not to be mean, but just because he was so taken aback that I wanted them.

So, why would I want to play golf? Well, I have this theory. My thought is that couples who can find an activity to do together that is fun, healthy, and lasts a lifetime, have a better chance of staying together. Same goes for families who play together - whether the activity is skiing, boating, golf, hiking, biking, or whatever it is that your family likes, it is a good thing.

Come to find out, quite a few of my friends also like to golf or want to learn. I think it could be a good Mom’s day out type of activity, too.

Have you and significant other got an activity/hobby you both enjoy? How about the family? What do you all like doing together?

Image: My own

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I’ve mentioned before how my teenager struggles with homework. We’ve tried everything to get him motivated to get his work done, but nothing seems to work. All of his teachers tell us he is a pleasure to have in class and is very smart. He just doesn’t do his homework so his grades are terrible.

A few months ago he was diagnosed with ADD. I felt terrible because we waiting so long to talk to our doctor about this diagnosis. I really think if we had gone to the doctor sooner, it would have helped him tremendously. Now he’s about to finish his sophomore year in high school and his grades are not good. Now we need to spend time finding the right medication that will work for him. We need to spend more time working on study skills again now that his brain is cooperating. And now is the time when these bad grades really effect him. Now these grades are on his official transcript that colleges and future employers may see.

We have yet to find the right combination of medication and nagging that works to get him on track. It’s getting better, but slowly. I’m a big education pusher. I’m all over my kids to get their homework done to the best of their ability and in on time. I’m not afraid to schedule meetings with counselors and email teachers. I’m on the verge of pulling a Rosanne and wearing the most embarrassing outfit I can find and following him around school to each of his classes. Almost.

We can check grades online to see what assignments are turned in and which aren’t. I know there is some debate about this. Our parents didn’t have that much information when we were kids. They just had to wait until midterms grade came out to ground us. Now we can ground our kids daily for missing assignments. I, however, love the fact that I can see all assignments online. By midterm it’s often to late to make up for lost work and he would end up failing. If I can see homework assignments in real time it helps me help him. I know when he’s in college (if he goes) I won’t get the luxury of seeing each assignment grade, but that’s ok. Without a high school diploma he can’t do anything. He can’t go in the military. He can’t go to college. He can’t get a job that pays more than minimum wage. We’re just working on high school right now. We’ll cross the college bridge when we get there.

About a week ago we sat down and went through every single assignment that was still missing. My son showed me what was completed and just needed to be turned in and then he worked on the assignments that still needed work. He is currently taking a PC Operating Systems class. It’s a dual credit class which means he not only gets high school credit, but he also get college credit. His grade for this class will be on his college transcript. Right now he gets to take the class for free, but if he fails it then we have to pay the local community college the fee for the course. It will be around $300 and I told my son the money will be coming from his savings account. All the money he just got for his birthday will be going to this class if he doesn’t get this grade up.

So (I thought) he was really focusing on that class and getting that work done. He showed me the three assignments that were missing and he had them completed. But when I checked online on Tuesday he still hadn’t turned them in.

I finally had enough and told him I would be going to school with him on Wednesday morning. So Wednesday morning I dragged my tired butt out of bed early and my husband and I accompanied our son to school. I feel like meeting his teachers face-to-face works better for us because he can’t give me this song and dance about how his teacher didn’t explain it right or won’t give him another copy of the worksheet or whatever excuse he comes up with. We met with each of his teachers that morning. He turned in all the assignments he had done and we got info and/or worksheets for all of the remaining missing assignments. All was going well.

His PC Operating Systems teacher wasn’t in the room right away. We checked several times and he wasn’t there yet. I was about to give up when we decided to check one more time. He was there. We walked in and I looked at my son and said, “Ok, turn in Chapter 11, 13 and 14.”

He looked down at his shoes and said, “I can’t.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“They aren’t done.”

“What do you mean they aren’t done. I saw them.”

“I lied. I just showed you old assignments and labeled them Chapter 11, 13 and 14.”

I was stunned. “You lied?” I stumbled.

“Yeah, I’m sorry.”

I was ready to strangle him right there, but we were in front of his teacher and a few students were in the room so I kept my cool. I told him to bring home all of his books that night and he’d be working on everything the remainder of the week and through the weekend.

I know teenagers lie, but I was just so taken aback that he faked his homework. He knew he wasn’t going to get away with it. I check his grades every day. I know he hasn’t turned it in. He was going to get caught eventually. It just blows my mind.

Needless to say, he has been grounded to his room since Wednesday. We sat down and discussed the lying. I told him I understand homework is boring to him and I’m going to be mad when he doesn’t do his part. Homework is his job right now. But I will not tolerate lying at all. I think we had a good talk.

And now his doctor has upped his ADD medicine so hopefully that will help. He seems to be doing better the last couple days. He’s gotten quite a bit done and is getting caught up.

Raising teenagers is so exhausting.

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