Wednesday's Woes

Okay, not really ‘woes’… whines?

Let’s be honest, I guess I’m whining. Because this is something that I’m hating right now.

Technology.

More specifically, technology that is geared toward children. And the fact that sometimes it seems that I am the only mother on the planet that cringes and finds it reprehensible for a child to sit through dinner at a restaurant, with nary a glance at anyone else at the table,as they are far too busy playing with all of the games on their iPod Touch. I guess they come by it honestly, though, because their parents are usually doing the very same thing with their iPhones.

Call me old-fashioned… call me cheap… call me whatever you will, but I am sick and tired of kids being little adults with all their gadgets and gizmos, and cell phones and texting. We are raising a world of people who don’t know how to interact with other people without a screen between them and can’t relate to the proper way to carry on a conversation.

These kids are growing up way too fast anyway, and I get all 'in my day...' every time I see kids at the park, texting with their friends (who happen to be standing right next to them), or every time one of my children has come home from a playdate saying that “So-and-so just wanted to play Xbox, and only wanted to play games that were rated ‘M’, so I came home.” Darn little ‘So-and-So’ and his permissive parents. ;)

I’m not saying we need to un-plug completely, people (trust me, I love my computer, too, and I’m pushing for a new Smartphone… I NEED one!) But can we maybe just un-plug a *little* bit? On occasion?

And sit at a dinner table with our family. And maybe make eye contact every now and then. Or play a game. Or have a conversation.

I’m not, by any means, saying that I’m doing this mommyhood mixed with technology thing the exact right way. I don’t know the right way. I’m not ‘anti-technology’ or ‘anti-progress’. We have a Wii… my kids have DS’s (the ‘really, really old kind’ they will grumble. ;) We have a computer and a couple of T.V.’s.


We also have a dinnertime that is uninterrupted by television or computer. We have a computer in our kitchen that my children must ask permission to use. I have a pre-teen daughter that writes her music requests down so that I can screen her selections before putting them on her iPod. We have limited game time, and the current rule in our house is... 'Only people with college degrees have cell phones'. Hey it works for us. ;)


All I’m saying is that it’s awfully hard sometimes to swim against the current. The current that pushes for the NEXT BIG THING, and the new piece of “fabulous technology that will keep you connected like never before!!”

I know this isn’t anything new, as a parent. It's only the arena that's new. Parents for generations have struggled with the right things to do for their kids, teaching them that while it’s easier to go along with the crowd, it’s not always the right thing to do. I get that.

Trust me, it gets very tiring to be the mom that “usually says ‘no’, occasionally says ‘maybe’, and rarely says ‘yes’”.

And I can only hope that my children will be the better for it.