Overload? Probably.
But what I saw at the mall the other day made me question my faith in the institution of family. It was just plain sad. I'm sitting at the table with Jonas eating my weekly Sweet Teryaki from the Great Steak whatever it's called, not minding my own business. I look to my left because I'm hearing a commercial or something and had to do a double take.
This poor woman is sitting at the table gazing off into nothing, probably daydreaming about some hot latin pool boy while her teenage boy and husband are watching shows on their separate iPads and eating their lunch.
They would laugh at their show, take a bite, and repeat, not saying one word to each other.
I make an effort not to pull my phone out during a meal, while interacting with my boys or when I'm spending time with others. I find a person who can't disconnect, even for just a few minutes, to be rude and inconsiderate. Granted, an emergency or a one-time, have to talk to this person right now thing is forgivable.
Making it a habit? Not so much.
There are certain places where I know Adrian and I could improve (he is a repeat offender and it drives me craaazy), especially not bringing technology to bed. I really do hate when it imposes on our...ahem...together time?
We do try to shut off at a certain time and watch a show or look up random stuff on the internet together, but sometimes I miss the times when I was pregnant with Gabriel and instead of being so "on" all the time, we would play cards or board games all night long.
It's that. That stimulation that comes with looking people in the eyeballs, actually communicating without LOLing and LMAOing and making synapses fire in your brain, that's the good stuff. The stuff that you lose out on when your eyes are glued to a computer, a phone, a tablet, geeking out with your internet friends and playing weird warcraft games.
Does your family struggle with this? Do you have any rules to make sure all that techy stuff doesn't take over your life?
OMG, in my house we have an iPad, two iPhone 5's, a laptop, a desktop, a kindle, a TV, and a play station. We used to have 3 TVs until I came to the point that I was tired of everyone being everywhere else but together. So, we downsized. Now, we are all in the same room together, watching the same thing, and having conversations together. It's great! We use our phones to allow the kids to play before our meal comes when we are dining out, because if I don't, they bounce off of the walls, but once dinner is on the table, everything is put away, and we talk about our day. We do the same at home. The only time it's allowed to come out at the table, is if we want to look up a fact online that will add to our conversation. We tend to have all kinds of political conversations, and conversations about the news while we eat. :o)
ReplyDeleteI do my best not to use anything as much now that I have a baby. She gets too addicted to staring at whatever it is and wanting to touch it. It helps since we don't want her breaking it or drooling on things. I hated when my stepdaughters were here and all they did was stare at their iPods or iPhones.
ReplyDeleteI'm following from the GFC hop and I must say I absolutely loved this post!
ReplyDeleteIt's just Hubby and I in my home, but we still ensure that we follow certain techie rules. We have one smart phone (mine), a pretty basic TV at this point and laptop - that's it. Hubby taught me a lot in regards to learning to switch off. I was guilty of phone obsession. Now, the only notifications that are always on are for email and calls, kinda like an old fashioned phone. When we get home mobile phones are off (we still have a landline) and only use the net when we need to. We just don't let it take over our together time. It's great! I think when it comes to technology you must use it to your advantage and control it and not let it control you.
Ally @ theadventuresofally.blogspot.co.uk
Ugh Brandon is bad at it sometimes. We'll be at dinner and he'll be on his phone, i've made a no phone at dinner rule. He gets SOOO wrapped up in his phone. Im definitely guilty of it sometimes but I also make a concious effort to unplug while im around my kids and ESPECIALLY not at meals
ReplyDeleteI'm probably the most hooked up person in our house, mainly becoz my kids are too small and the hubs was never into social media! But, even I don't use it when my boys are awake and at home! That lady's life seems to sad to me!
ReplyDeleteum....did I just say, "hooked-up"??!?
DeleteLol! One of the recent episodes of "The New Normal" was just about this very issue! It is something that everyone in this day and age has to deal with I guess. New follower here from the blog hop! You can visit me at Moms Surviving Kids!
ReplyDeleteMegan
www.momssurvivingkids.com
Same thing here also, I don’t have time to use an iPad even that much a busy mum….
ReplyDeleteVery true but still I didn't let my children even to use mobile phones, since we are in a county they have lot of other stuffs to keep them busy.
ReplyDelete