I saw the saddest thing yesterday, but Ive seen it before! While waiting at the carwash indoors, a beautiful young woman with her son walked by me on their way outside to wait for their car. The boy appeared to be about 6 years old. I smiled at her and her son recalling the days when me and my boy use to be about town running errands like Mutt and Jeff. But they looked different than me and my boy did. As they sat down they both immediately pulled out their smart phones and entered into their own private worlds. No words exchanged. No smiles or giggles. Nothing. I get it. There are text messages and emails to respond to, business, social media to catch up on, and games to play. And after all, kids want to play their games or theyll be fuss-budgets or worse, they might actually demand your attention! Its a lot of work to keep a child entertained and out of trouble, especially when youre tired. I know, I remember. But what about unplanned conversations that could take place? Opportunities to get to really know your child and for them to really get to know you. Thats how we get to know one another; in simple time spent with one another doing something simple: like talking. Opportunities to just plain old enjoy the presence of your child. You also can teach your child to look around and observe their environment and other people while they are out instead of retreating to their own private world. When I went to run errands with our son, whether it was grocery shopping, the carwash, or even for a doctor visit, I would occupy our busy boy with air baseball. We spent countless hours throwing a pretend ball and playing catch. We shot air hoops. We made up stories about scary hikes on trails where we always returned home safely. We read books! I always had a book in my purse for us to read during dead time, and it was often the same book, I just changed the story and made it new! Its called creativity. Mommas: D O N T G I V E I N to this electronic temptation. I know times have changed. But people havent. We still need all the same things that weve always needed. Electronics are great, but only great when used with discretion and in doses. Be willing to suffer through the complaints, the rants, the attitudes, the sullen behavior, and reclaim these priceless days! Y O U W I L L N E V E R R E G R E T making a choice to spend simple time with your child doing simple things. But you may regret allowing an electronic device to rob you and your child of precious time. The time will come quickly enough when they will be gone and too busy to spend time just sitting at a carwash visiting with you.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 18:47:16 +0000
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