illustration by rabbisblog.brsonline.org
Can you please put your phone away? What do you mean?
I mean can you please put your phone away. Coat pocket, back pocket anywhere but the table.
I don't understand what's the big deal. Well the Big deal is that we are having dinner and we are out with the intention of enjoying each others company not to be on our gadgets.
Well what if I miss a call? Well what sort of call would you be missing? We just checked on everyone before we sat down. Yeah but....yeah but nothing phones away!
Half way through dinner I begin to hear some sort of whistling sound. I continue to go about my biz but my dinner partner begins to look uneasy. I ask what's wrong and the response is oh I'm getting some alerts from my FB and Twitter. I said what? You get alerts from your social media? Hell yeah girl don't you? Don't you what to know what's going on? Going on with who I say? The people I care about contact with me directly they don't need to hit me up on my social media. I got the rolling eye and sucked teeth.
Needless to say dinner was very eye opening and full of debate.
illustration by eridesign.gr
Our attention is under siege! We can't go anywhere without our gadgets. I am guilty too but I try to limit it to just keeping on vibrate in case my daughter tries to contact me. But what did parents do before cellphones? What did business people do before emails? What did friends do before Instagram? Well we kept our fingers crossed and wished our kids a safe return home from school, we were sitting at the dinner table with our families talking about our days and we said "remember when" a lot.
Let's try to be in the moment MORE and on our gadgets LESS! Our kids won't be little forever and our relationships won't take the back seat for very long.
Contrary to what television and other media outlets try to push on us what matters is quality time. It helps with our health and our sanity. Why do you think our grandparents lived or live so long? Trust it is not because they are rushing through things, they are in the moment.
How many hours a week are you on your gadgets? How many hours do you sleep? How many hours are you engaged in physical activity with your loved ones? Start a conversation, do you fall victim to the "I may miss something if I put my phone down" lifestyle?
Always stress free xo
Mari
Hi Mari, This is the sad, true, reality of life in this era. I get irritated when I'm sitting at the table and everyone surrounding me, including my mom is on her phone or tablet. I have a rule at my house no gadgets at the dinner table, for the most part it works, sadly my mom is the one who I usually have to be on top of on this matter but it's my house, my rule, and I don't feel like it is a terrible request. At dinner time in my house I want everyone together and focused on each other, it's truly my favorite part of the day and one that we each look forward to. Remember to be firm at dinner time tell everyone how you feel about this situation, I know your friends and family members love you and will understand how important it is for you that everyone is present at the table.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing and good luck! Lilly
Carmen welcome and thanks for commenting. I love what you shared about the dinner table stuff because it is so true. Please fell free to stop by again would love to chat :)
DeleteMari.... you have hit on my pet peeve! You ask what did we do before all "stuff"? We had LIVES outside of our work day - what didn't get done today, got done tomorrow or in the next "shift". AND we had real, solid relationships - quality over quantity, as now people are more concerned with how many "friends" or "followers" they have whether they know (or interact) with them or not.
ReplyDeleteTechnology propels us forward and sets us back at the same time.
Nikki, the sadness of the disconnect is real and its unfortunate not a lot of Attention is being paid to it but I am glad that me speaking about it here starts a great chat. Always great seeing you drop by :)
DeleteAmen!! So true. I know you are right, oh so right. I have made it a point when my kids walk into my room to physically turn my body away from the screen, so I can look at them and talk to them and give them my 100 %
ReplyDeleteMary welcome and great share I like that idea! It forces you to make it a habit to look at them love it! Hope to chat again soon:)
DeleteHi Mari, Your post is so true. My husband and I don't allow our children to have cellphones at the table, during family movie night or when we're on a family outing. I started shutting down my computer use when I saw the look on my children's faces when they were little. My boys are now 16 and 14 and I still shut the computer down when they get get home. They grow up so fast and when we have that time together we try to savor it. #blogfair
ReplyDeleteKimberly time sure does move fast my lil mama is 20 years old already. So every moment that we can be present and away from our gadgets should be enjoyed and cherished. Chat again soon I hope :)
DeleteThis is a reality and I try not to be consumed by it.
ReplyDeleteHey Iris welcome to Mommywood :) hope to see you here again and I think best we can all do is try to do better daily baby steps
DeleteI must admit, I probably spend way more time looking at my phone than I should and it is something I've been actively working on. It can be very frustrating when you're trying to have a conversation with someone and their eyes never stray from the screen. I've noticed that after smartphones became the norm, there has been much less memories being made. When we get together with friends there are huge chunks of time when everyone is distracted with their gadgets. It's sad, really.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing with us at #mommymeetupmondays!
Hey Brandyn well maybe now that you more aware you will try some tricks to detach a little more and more lol. Have fab day chat soon :)
DeleteI'm with you! These days having someone's full attention feels like a rare gift, when really, it's what we deserve from someone we're spending time with. Thanks for sharing this great post at the Manic Mondays blog hop!
ReplyDeleteThanks Meredith :)
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