Wednesday, May 9, 2012

My wake up call

This blog post was shared on my Facebook feed this morning, and I read it as I was getting ready for work. The title is "How to miss a childhood" and it really struck home with me. We are guilty of this in our house, and I know we are not the only ones. Technology may be convenient, but we are missing out on so much! I don't spend nearly as much time simply playing with Sophie as I did with Emma. The four of us can be in the same room together, but we are not always present with each other.

This is going to change.

I haven't worked out all the details yet, and will of course involve my husband in this, but I strongly believe that we need to implement a "no phone/iPod" rule in the evenings in our house. There are notifications going off for games, social networking, new email, or texts constantly. And it's not just us - Emma is glued to her iPod Touch in one hand, texting with her phone in the other. Even Sophie works my phone like a pro! We need to spend more time together. Playing, coloring, crafting, going outside, reading - just being together. My husband and I need to spend more time talking to each other and enjoying each other's company more and the pseudo-company of far away Facebook friends less.

Time is too precious to waste.
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7 comments:

  1. shawnMay 9, 2012 at 12:18 PM

    I couldn't agree more with you. My hubby & I live in the old world of no IPhones. I don't believe in the money the phones & services cost plus I just don't think I'm that important that I need to be at the disposal of the technology instead of the other way around.

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  2. Cerebrations.bizMay 9, 2012 at 12:41 PM

    I was lucky that this technology did not exist when my kids were younger- or I would have to work hard to ween myself and my ex off the devices. We were lucky that we only had beepers- and that we were only on duty every other day...

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  3. Nicole BandesMay 9, 2012 at 1:49 PM

    We don't allow electronics at the dinner table. Never have. Then we clean up as a family about 2 to 3 nights a week. We could do more, but it's a start.

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  4. donabMay 9, 2012 at 3:15 PM

    I so agree with this. My partner works at a job that encourages constant interaction even when he's out of the office. He's sometimes better at resisting than other times, and I find I pick up my phone when he's using his. And then our toddler wants to play a game and then it is all downhill from there. We are planning our first outdoor dinner tonight and I will insist the devices all stay inside, at least for tonight!

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  5. viewfromdownhereMay 9, 2012 at 8:10 PM

    I completely agree. I tell T all the time that we need to do a weekend where we are completely unplugged from everything. One of the best times where I was the most relaxed was when we were on our honeymoon in Ireland, and we had no access to phone, Internet, you name it. As Aubrey gets older, I definitely want to make sure this doesn't happen.

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  6. AnjuliMay 10, 2012 at 11:36 AM

    I think it was the greatest thing for my kids to be raised in Africa- because I didn't have to make these choices- at the time we were there...all these gadgets were non existent- so now they are older and married, I tend to see they are not as tied to them. They treasure family time- being games- sitting around and talking- going on a picnic- Unfortunately- Daniel and I have become old foggies and we wld rather sit in front of the tv when we are tired and just zone out- and this is something they are complaining about- so they want US TO CHANGE- ha ha!! They are implementing the new rules...NO TV WHEN WE VISIT YOU! okay kids!

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  7. Tia BachMay 10, 2012 at 10:01 PM

    I saw that article, too. So eye-opening. My kids love the outdoors, so it's never as much a problem this time of year. But winters (and darker days)... ugh!

    Wishing you a Happy Mother's Day weekend.

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