It's a Small World, Afterall.

Disregard completely the blatant Disney reference, if you will. Since although we live in O-town and have for a couple years now, we have never been to any Kingdom, magical or otherwise. I know; right? How can we live right here and not have partaken of all things Disney, at least once?? You see, the thing is, The Boy Wonder and The Leester have absolutely zero interest in a theme park if it does not offer thrills and spills. Crazy roller coasters? They are right there. Nausea and vertigo inducing adrenaline rushes? Sold! Standing in line for an hour in order to feel the thrill of a ride of terror that lasts all of ninety seconds? Consider it done.

Experiencing the Magic? Not so much. Any of my Gal-Pals wish to accompany me to Disney World so we can stroll down memory lane and remember what the magic was all about? Yeah, I thought not. So, as you can see, I wont be going to Disney World anytime soon.

As I was saying, disregard all that completely. What I was referring to was something else that took place for the Family G. on Halloween, specifically for The Wee.

As a pass time, The Wee likes to play World Of Warcraft. For that matter, so does The Wee's mother. It is a lot of fun and vastly entertaining. Well, I am hyper-sensitive with regards to my sons time spent playing this game and basically any time he spends online. We have very specific rules and regulations that if broken, will determine the end of said entertainment, completely and permanently. Over the course of the past six months or so, The Wee has had the occasion to get to know quite well, a young man from California. (I use "young man" in the same connotation that I would speak of The Wee, not as in pedophile or something sketchy. Stay with me here) The Wee is only allowed to provide his first name to someone, never anymore information than that. After playing the game with this young man over a period of time and speaking to each other over their respective computers, The Wee asked me if they could talk to each other on the phone, while playing the game. After some consideration, I decided to allow it, so these two characters have been burning up the airwaves as they plan their raids and how best to PvP someone. I have, upon no notice, taken the phone out of my sons hand and spoken to the person on the other end. I am confident that this other person is who he says he is, a kid the same age as my son, that happens to live on the other side of the continent.

Well, imagine my surprise when at 10:30 at night, The Wee's cell phone rings and when I check the voice mail message (Yes, I also police his voice mail. As well as his email. Hard-ass? Perhaps, but I am responsible for his safety, health and well-being. A task I take seriously.), hear that it is his friend, having just landed in O-Town for vacation and looking to possibly meet at Halloween Horror Nights.

SCREEEEEECH

That? That, dear reader, was the sound of brakes. Yes, exactly. All of a sudden this has gone to a whole new level here. Now all of a sudden it is questions of voice changing software, pedophiles, kidnappings and even uglier things. All of the things I, as a mother, secretly fear could happen to my child. Now all of a sudden he is a teenager and I have less control. He is more independent and is growing up far too quickly for my tastes. Where does one draw the line at over protective and suffocating? Well, let me tell you something. After careful consideration, The Leester and I decided that yes, we would allow The Wee to meet his friend from California. It was a controlled environment, we would be with him, there would be a bajillion people around and little likelihood something untoward could happen.

Do you think me crazy yet? Crazier?

We got to Universal Studios and via a game of phone tag, met his friend in front of Dueling Dragons.

Where we also met another set of nervous parents. Nervous parents of a very normal, pleasant young man whom I think is a great friend for The Wee. A friend who would have never come into question had The Wee met him at school, or in the neighborhood. In addition to a set of nervous parents (One of whom is a CA Highway Patrol officer, so obviously hyper-aware of the inherent risks as well), we met the kid's Grandparents, his brother and his younger sister. It was really a very neat experience and we had a lot of fun. We also have plans to get together for dinner while they are here on vacation and I believe we will meet them for a day spent at Universal Studios.

Which brings me to that whole small world thing. This crazy Internet and that whole WWW thing. Sometimes it is astounding to me, how much the world is changing as a result of it. Shrinking drastically and erasing boundaries with it, both good and bad.

Imagine.