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Families 159In the case of this family, the television set is the media object that hasbeen used to create a shared family time-space. For example, Maxwel oftenwatches telenovelas, Spanish-language soap operas, with his mother. Maxwelmentioned watching “the one at seven,” and when I asked if he was referringto the telenovela Peregrina, Maxwel and his mom immediately answered withan enthusiastic “yes.” During the interview with Lydia, she struggled toremember the title of an English-language television program that she likes.She asked her son for the title and he asked her “el de los que siempre estánfumados?” (“The one where they’re always stoned?”) This description of That’70s Show resonated for Maxwel’s mom and she said that she enjoyed watchingthe program because “Cuando uno esta joven, todo se te hace fácil.” (“Whenone is young, everything seems easy.”) Lydia does not understand the Englishlanguage but says that she can follow the physical humor used in Englishlanguagesitcoms. She also enjoys watching wrestling with her kids. Thetheatricality and physicality of World Wrestling Entertainment make it easyfor a non-English speaker to follow the television programs.Lydia was able to attend school up to only the fourth grade in her hometownof Mexico City. She came to the United States with her then husbandand two daughters. Maxwel was born in the United States a few years afterthe family arrived in the country. Lydia explains that while she encouragesher kids’ use of computers, she hasn’t tried to incorporate computers into herown life. She says that she often joins her children on their trips to the publiclibrary or the local community center and looks on while they use computers.However, she does not actually use them herself because, as she explained,her first goal is to make sure that her kids have everything they need tosucceed in school and her second goal is to learn English.Lydia was unemployed at the time the interview was conducted. Her lastjob had been as a garment worker using embroidery machines in a factory.She brought out a hat and showed it off as both an example of the work thatshe did and also to draw attention to her favorite Mexican soccer team. WhenLydia was employed at the sewing factory she often worked nights and didnot see her children in the morning or immediately after school. When sheworked into the early morning she used her mobile phone to call her kidsand remind them to eat breakfast. She also expected them to call her mobilephone when they came home from school. She explained that her phonerecorded the time and place from where the call was made and that shereturned her kids’ phone calls during her break.Maxwel and his sisters have asked their mom for mobile phones butshe does not have the funds to buy them. Her eldest daughter is twentyyears old and bought her own mobile phone. This daughter sells carpetcleaner door-to-door and is the owner of the family’s digital camera. WhenMaxwel was asked what he used the camera for, he explained that it was used