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I normally do not like to air out my family’s dirty laundry on social media, but there is something I really need to say. It is not desperation or addiction. It is not begging or pleading. It is simply a proposal that I would like to present….and to all my JOMC 240 peers, it goes along with our topic of discussion this upcoming week.
Dear Mom and Dad,
I know you both are a bit conventional when it comes to online mass media outlets. Neither of you have ever been the biggest fans. However, over Christmas break you created a Netflix account for our family to enjoy. Your intent was for us to use it to relax and “de-stress” from the anxiety of our busy lives.
As anyone can imagine, we all loved having the account. We watched movies as a family, TV shows individually, and surprisingly managed to never fight over who got time on the account.
Adam (16, my brother) and Hannah (11, my sister) even watched movies together…and in our family, getting them to do anything civilly is next to impossible.
But once school started back again in January, things went sour. Instead of focusing on school, Hannah became a bit too dependent on Netflix as her main source of entertainment. The way you described it…she would either rush home and do an inadequate job on her homework in order to watch Netflix or she would skip homework all together and go straight to Netflix, claiming she would “do it later.”
So…you cancelled our account. Our one account that we had for less than a month.
[Pause for a moment of silence. It is truly heart breaking.]
Being that I am an adult and do earn a little money from my part-time jobs, I then asked you if I could create my own account and pay for it myself. But you were both a bit reluctant and didn’t think that this was such a great idea.
Why??? Why??? Why???
So after much consideration, I have a proposal for you both. Given that Hannah is the only one who “abused” our Netflix account, I say we recreate our account and just not tell her. Simple as that. We each will know that the family has a Netflix account, but we just won’t tell HER. How does that sound?
Now I know that you are probably thinking that this is a horrible idea. Poor little Hannah. What happens if she finds out? She will feel extremely left out.
But here is the thing…Hannah is still in middle school. When I was in middle school I didn’t have the luxury of an iPod Touch (like she has), or an Nintendo DS (like she has), or even an Instagram (like she has). So, don’t you think it is a bit unfair to me?
By all means, over the summer “pretend” that we recreated the account and let her use it. I am not saying completely deprive the child. However, come next fall when school begins again, simply pretend that you cancelled the account and she will then be forced to focus on school. Meanwhile, Adam and I can continue to enjoy Netflix on the rare occasions when we have a few minutes to spare.
Please seriously consider this proposal. I’m a good kid. I make good grades and stay actively involved…help me out here! Also, if you don’t mind making a decision about this quickly, I would greatly appreciate it. Season 2 of House of Cards starts tomorrow…and I am on Episode 9 of Season 1. It is so GOOD!!
Thanks Mom and Dad…I know you will make a very “wise” decision.
Love you both,
Rachel