Man, we were all about the sex and uberviolence in our tweens.

In hindsight, we probably shouldn't have been reading and watching what we were, but hey.

PM, that is my thought too. A 12, I was reading a lot of John Jakes books. And watching Clint Eastwood. Both with my parents knowledge.

My kids are super self censoring. They didn't make it through Guardians of the Galaxy because too scary for them. Hell. There are some Odd Squads on PBS that they will only watch if we sit with them.

I read Flowers in the Attic on the bus on the way to 7th grade, which in retrospect was not a good choice. Casper hates it when I swear, so I think she's kind of self-censoring for now. Dillo (8) is scared to watch Apollo 13 at the moment because he thinks it will be scary. (But he swears like whoa, so.)

I was reading Harlequin and Silhouette romances in the 7th grade. A friend and I had a subscription where they would send us 4 books a month, so I assume Mom knew I was reading them.

I read Flowers in the Attic on the bus, too!

Flowers in the Attic (and the sequels) and Judy Blume's Forever were the major bus books. And The Thorn Birds, because Catholic school.

I think the thing that really messed me up was watching The Exorcist too young, and that was the edited for TV version. I think I was nine. WAY too scary. And reading The Shining when I was ten. That was a bad idea. My parents didn't know about any of that.

I remember in fourth or fifth grade, our Barbies sometimes got divorced and often had dramatic arguments, because we all watched soaps (or least absorbed them while they were on) with our moms. I think one of the Barbies got "raped," as well, which we seemed to think was just a very demanding seduction.

Sara has email, but she can only check it when I let her use the computer, and she forgets about it for weeks at a time. When she's online, she likes YouTube and Instagram, but Instagram is only for looking at her friends' accounts, since she doesn't have a way to take or upload pictures. The day of her needing a phone is coming, though, especially if I'm working full-time.

Matt: your cats are geniuses of mayhem.

Crafty buffistas - have you seen this dragon hat?.

(I hope that non-ravellers can see that.)

I think one of the Barbies got "raped," as well, which we seemed to think was just a very demanding seduction.

Just like Luke and Laura! True luv.

So we were supposed to interview someone this morning, but she spent three hours getting partway here and called to withdraw from consideration. OK then!

That hat is awesome!

I remember reading Rosemary's Baby when I was about 10. I won't say it scarred me for life, but it kind of put me off the genre. Never liked movies like that, or the Omen and the only reason I ever saw the Exorcist was to go with some friends from high school to a mid-night showing. Now, that was mistake. A lot of Steven King was watch from the hall or with one eye closed. Never had a problem reading it, it was the visuals that got to me. The Shining was one of those movies, although Firestarter and Dead Zone were two of my favorites (both books and movies.)