Eat Your Vegetables, and Don’t Forget to Tweet
As a teenager, Jessica Wilson rebelled against her parents. She refused to tweet.
Parents are always looking for ways to position their children for success, from piano lessons to Mandarin immersion. In the Wilson household, that means encouraging the kids to express themselves on the Internet. Unlike parents who struggle to limit kids’ computer use, Fred and Joanne Wilson want their kids to be comfortable with the latest in technology.
The parents and kids publish a combined nine blogs. They bring a duffle bag on family trips just to carry all the cords, adapters and batteries for their electronic devices. Mr. and Ms. Wilson, both 49, write almost every day on their blogs, which cover everything from financing start-ups and music (his) to entrepreneurs, family and the key to cooking a prime rib (hers).
Jessica, 20, and Emily, 18, have two blogs each; Joshua, 15, has one, plus two Xboxes. When Josh expressed an interest in building websites, his mom hired a graduate student to tutor him in coding.