technology

“I wish i was thier phone….”

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So im looking through my Facebook feed (whilst bub is sleeping) and this picture hits me right in the heart, a little boy  with what looks like his parents hands holding mobile phones with a caption that reads ” I wish i was their phone… so they would hold me and look at me all day”

kids,parents,technology

Such a powerful image that had me thinking how much time do i actually spend on my phone and better yet how much of that time is when my son is around? I took note throughout the day and noticed im on my phone at least once every half hour for up to 10 – 15 minutes at a time. That’s a lot of time to be loosing watching our babies grow up. Im often complaining about how quick my son is growing and yet here i am with my head down for quite a bit of time during the day missing out on all that growing and learning.

Social media and the internet is an exciting place, i love it hence the reason i spend so much time on it, i google my diagnosis every time im sick, i seek opinions when im unsure, it’s a brilliant thing, but just maybe if we look up once in a while we will see life is passing us by, put the phone down, grab your babies and go smell the fresh air outside, chase butterflies , throw a ball and just explore before your babies are to big to want to be around you.

After seeing this image it has made me really think about the time im spending with my little boy and am now conscience of what im spending my time on, i know im going to limit my time on my phone because i want to experience life with my kids and teach them that socializing with people is fun and healthy and far better then having your head focused on a screen all day.

Im sure many will disagree with me and that’s fine but i ask this, next time your on your phone have a look at the attitude of your child, do they look sad, are they feeling left out do they need more attention?

Until next time

-Realhonestmum

 

Toddler + Technology = Debate

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I think every parent must go through this debate at some point in their child’s life.

You are either debating with your partner, your friends, strangers or a lot of the time with yourself about that very sticky question. Do you let your toddler watch tv, or better yet do you let them play with your phone or Ipad.

As expectant parents my husband and i were both on the same page that we would not let our child watch tv or play games on our phones or ipads till at least they were 5. Actually a time limit wasn’t discussed we simply did not want them to play with anything related to technology. Now as a parent like a lot of things we have changed our minds slightly.

Before i explain what or why we have changed our mind, let me explain why we made our original decision.

My husband and i would often go to dinner before we became a family of three and what would annoy the crap out of us would be seeing families out to dinner and the kids with their eyes glued to an ipad playing games, to us this was so disrespectful. We have always viewed dinner time as family time or discussion time and we often wondered why parents allow this when they go out. Was it because it was the only thing that would keep the kids quiet so the parents could have a peaceful night out? Was it because these days parents have no control over their children or was it just the way life is now. Are we the ones living in some time warp and haven’t moved with the times?

So i asked the question to these parents and their response was that they would much rather have there child seated at a table well mannered and occupied then screaming and carrying all for all patrons to be annoyed at them. So being a parent i can almost see there point, but… and here is the big but, what did my parents do and your parents do when they went out to dinner with us? I’m pretty sure i didn’t have an ipad keeping me entertained. I remember being told in the car before we entered that if i wasn’t good i would be grounded or in trouble when we got home so i happily took the pencils and coloring activity sheet that i often received at restaurants and spoke when i was told and we all went home full and happy.

We were recently on holiday’s and stuck in the room due to rain for three days. My 11 month old was going crazy, so we resorted to getting the Ipad out and playing a kids show. Our son was mesmerized for about half and hour, just enough time to get our sanity back. So maybe these parents are right, maybe technology assists with taming our children.

So now, im contemplating whether we are being hard parents and not moving with the times or simply good parents who should be able to occupy kids without using technology.

The answer? well im still undecided. My though process is i will wait and see what happens. If there is one thing i have learnt being a parent is that nothing is set in stone, things you thought you would do you don’t and things you promised you would never do some how make there way into your day to day routine. I guess the point im trying to make is you just never know until your in that situation. I hope i can raise my kids to be able to sit at a dinner table in a restaurant and behave like humans without the aid of technology to get them through the night, but ill guess we will have to wait and see.

 

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Share your experiences with the introduction to technology with your kids. How did you implement it, what rules do you have?

 

Until next time

– Real Honest Mum