I'm Going to Say it Again

Put. Down. Your. Phone.

I'm trying to come at this without judgment. I'm really thinking of the fact children grow up so fast. I want parents to know how fast it goes and how much they will miss if they have their faces in their freaking phones all the time.

What sparked it this time? The mom who paid ZERO attention to her excited 4th grader who was trying to show her what he learned in computer class because she was too busy texting the. whole. time. Nope. The 3-year-old who tried for 20 minutes to engage her mother who was to busy texting to give engagement to said 3-year-old? Nope. Those sparked THIS POST.

Today's concern comes from a Facebook post I saw where dad was filming the toddler who was trying to engage mom who was too busy on her phone to engage with the toddler.

I'm telling Y'all, I don't like this behavior. I can't help it, I do. not. like. it.

I get there are some parents who use their phones as a connection to their business. It's understandable these moms and dads have to respond to texts and emails from work. Phones are great when we have video chats with loved ones who live far away. Emergencies happen and we can connect quicker which is great. However, I still don't think we should be on our phones so long that it begins to take the place of engaging with children.

Is it becoming a cliche' to say we went out to eat and saw families sitting there on their phones instead of interacting with one another? If so, that's sad.

Yes, I am guilty of having my phone out when the grands are around but that's to take pictures and I do not keep it in their face the whole time they're with me. I will give a quick glance if I hear a text message come in but that's just to see if it was their parents if not, the text is ignored. One thing my grandkiddos do not have to do is compete with my phone for attention. But that's just me and I think I may fast becoming a minority on this issue.

So, what are some things we can do to help us put those phones down and pay attention to one another?

1. Phone box. Get a phone box/bag and whenever the family is doing something together, all phones go into the box until the activity is over. 
2. Keep your phone in a different room when playing with your kiddos.
3. Make a list of family cell phone use.
4. Check yourself. Do you really need that much time on your phone? 99% of all text messages are not that important, Y'all. 
5. Have phone free time at least once each day.
6. Enlist help from an app. Yep, there's an app for that. There are apps that will allow you to block yourself from other apps and websites. An app like, CHECKY will monitor how often you check your phone and could reveal some interesting information for you. 
7. Turn your phone off for at least an hour each day. You can set up an auto-responder.
8. Challenge yourself with a social media free weekend. This might be quite revealing. 
9. Remember, you do not need to be available to anyone other than your family all the time. Everyone else can wait.
10. Also remember, a phone is never a replacement for human interaction especially with those who are right in front of your face. 

Come on, Y'all. Why is this even a thing? Why do we put our phone interaction above engaging with our family and especially our children? I see it nearly every day and yes, even within my own family. Are grandparents the only ones these kids are going to believe care enough about them to give them eye-to-eye contact? Conversation? I'll say this, I'm so glad my memories of my grandparents (and parents) are not filled with trying to get their attention. I'm glad they cared enough about me to put me ahead of watching television or talking on the phone which were the big technology distractions of that time. I knew they loved me and I didn't have to plead with them to find that out.

How do people even know their kids these days if they don't talk to them and actually pay attention to the conversation? It baffles me.

I'm very sorry for today's distracted parents who will wake up one day and wonder where their little kids went and then wonder why they have to beg for their children's attention.

Ok Y'all, weigh in!

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The Technology Balance

I'm not sure that technology has factored into the area of balancing my work and private life or not. It has certainly helped as far as communication goes at work and in life. It has been helpful when I reach out to encourage and uplift others. It helps every day when I try to post something on Facebook that will make others laugh or feel good. I certainly use technology both at work and in life. But, does it help me with the balance of the two? I don't see it if it does. 


Technology helps and hinders both at work and in life. I just don't believe it either helps or hinders when it comes to the balance between the two. It helps that I can keep in touch with work-related communication when I am at home, and it helps me communicate with home when I'm at work. But that seems to be the end of the assistance. This is a good thing in that it keeps me from being surprised when I get to work and it keeps me from worrying about things at home while I'm at work. Of course, it goes the other way, too. It can stress me out over what I have to face at work the next day and it can increase my worry about what is going on at home while I'm at work. A double-edged sword I suppose. Or, the good with the bad. Something like that.

Technology can be a hindrance in just about anything we do. It keeps us from talking face-to-face as much. It keeps us inside in front of artificial light. It ruins our eyesight and our attention span. It messes with our social skills and keeps us inactive. We are constantly distracted by our devices and we exhibit rude behavior in the company of others. It has made it easier for us to bully others and to have our lives stolen by thieves. We were so impressed by technology, that we got all caught up in the web and we can't find our way out. Not only that, but we don't seem that interested in an escape. We all seem to be on the fast track to being overtaken by those who are so technology savvy, that they can do so. Could it be that believeing our society needs to be the way it was decades ago is naive? Considering the way society is changing in the ways of technolgy, yes. If we don't evolve with the changes, we're sunk.  

Communication via techology can be viewed as another step in the evolution of communication. Yes, our eyes are on our digital devices almost constantly anymore, but we are communicating. And we're doing so on a much larger scale in this world of ever advancing technology. The desire to communicate has stayed the same, the stage and equipment have changed and this has opened up the world to us. Think about commuters, back in the day, who read books or the newspaper on their daily excursions. The difference now is that we read those books and newspapers on digital devices. We are still interacting with objects instead of people. Only the objects have changed. And, in some cases, we are communicating with our friends and family instead of reading books and newspapers because the technology makes it possible for us to do so even while we are traveling and they are not with us. 

Yes, there are negative effects from using digital devices, especially as much as we do. But the benefits are still ahead of the negatives. Yes, there are bad people out there who are going to try and use technology to steal our identity or get close to our children  and so on, but we don't have to make this easy for them. The world of technology is advancing rapidly and it is fascinating. Armed with education and protection, this can be quite exciting. 

It's a cunumdrum, this rapidly advancing technological world. How do you find a balance?