Great Wolf Lodge is one of the fun places for tweens this summer.
By Guest Writer: Rosemary Burns
OMG – my little girl will be turning 13 this summer! Truly, this just dawned on me.
You know how you just get used to thinking your kid is a certain age and your brain simply keeps them at that age-indefinitely. Well, if you don’t, you will as your babies keep growing up 
After 13, comes 14, then 15, then 16, 17, college, relationships, marriage, babies! Okay, I’m getting a little ahead of myself I admit but I just attended my nieces wedding and I can still vividly remember the day that she was born.
My tween has been lobbying for months to get either a Kindle or a Nook for her birthday this year. She has approached this request very maturely doing much research about them on-line and by talking with friends as to their preferences. She has done comparisons between the two systems as to price, functions, and availability. She has enlightened me on the benefits of reading electronically versus paperback, (my personal preference), and pledged to do much more reading this summer if she was to be so lucky as to receive one for her birthday.
She does enjoy reading now-thank you Harry Potter. I appreciate her effort and research because: #1 – now I don’t have to do it, and #2 – she is showing maturity and responsibility.
Checking my e-mail in box, I notice I have a message from About.com’s parenting guide for tweens site. It is a message entitled “Thinking Beyond Barbie,” gift ideas for tweens. “Perfect timing,” I think to myself and click on it to open.
Hmmm.
The suggestions are pretty good; knitting loom, ITunes vouchers, books and crafts. My tween now has her own strong opinions on fashion and room decor so I don’t even attempt to pick things out in those areas, opting instead to give Target gift cards. But, I just wanted to see if there were any unique ideas out there. Well, there were. Right under the list of related articles of Understanding Peer Pressure, Conversing With Tweens, and Growing Up Too Fast-Tweens was the following list of ads in a bold font: Make Him Addicted To You, Chat Up Hot Rus Girls (Get Together With Russian Women. Live Chat, Camview, Fast Match), and Free Psychic Readings. No wonder they’re growing up too fast if this is the stuff they are exposed to on a presumably innocent site!
But it gets worse.
After clicking on a link about making refrigerator magnets, again aimed at tweens and a good suggestion I thought to bond with my kid by doing a project together, there appears an ad written in an eye-catching blue color and underlined stating, “Sell Sex Toys From Home.” What the Heck? All of this from a parenting site!
Fast forward to the next morning. I check my e-mail in box and click on a message from Cool Places Tweens. What a relief. This site is chock full of wonderful historical, educational, family oriented and just plain fun ideas for tweens to enjoy this summer – including Great Wolf Lodge which is a great place for all ages and a place Richmond moms just love.
P.S. My personal list for my tweens summer fun includes a lessening of the hectic school schedule, lots of swimming, playing tennis with her little brother, joining the Public Libraries reading program, family vacation at the OBX, campouts in the backyard, taking over responsibility of walking the dog, visits with grandparents, day trips to historical venues, amusement parks, drive-in movies, eating lots of ice cream and yes, making some refrigerator magnets.
Happy Summer!
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