How many hours a day do we spend watching our mobiles? Or rather, at what times of our day are we busy or distracted in them? Having so much information and entertainment in our hand, it is easy to waste time.
A father realized that he was wasting valuable and important time with his children, and He shares it in a post that reminds us to release our phones more.
Brad Kearns is the dad behind the DaDMuM blog and after absent a while from the networks, he told about a situation that occurred one afternoon when he was with his children at home. While they were playing, instead of getting involved or being with them, Brad was watching his mobile. His three-year-old son Knox approached him and eventually realized the mistake he was making.
Do not let your mobile become a shitty father.
I was home alone with the children and I was on Facebook, trying to catch up with what's going on in the world.
Knox came over and stood in front of me. At first I didn't even notice it but he was clearly trying to get my attention. He was trying to show me one of his cars. I didn't even look up from my cell phone when I replied "Wow buddy, that's fine." He remained in front of me. He started saying "hello". I replied "hello" several times but he did not stop. He went for another toy and continued trying to get my attention.
Eventually I looked up from my cell phone and said "Daddy is busy little friend, you could go play with Finn". He left the room and began to play silently with his brother. I continued to see the mobile. He returned and the same thing happened again.
I had not seen him in two days due to my work schedule. He was bored and missed me and just wanted my attention. However, there I was "too busy" to even look up. And I told him to leave. Soon I realized that and moved my phone away from my sight. And I felt the shit.
I was being the dad I never wanted to be. With that I had enough. So I went to the next room and asked if he wanted to play. His entire face lit up. He said "of course" and made room for me to sit next to him. We played all day and I left my cell phone on the bench. This was a month ago. I gave myself a needy time out. And it was the best month with my boys.
I can't post every day. Sometimes I will miss a week. I do not care.
Children don't care about the world. They only care that you are there with them.
We need to leave our phones when we are with them.
Although Brad's message is not revealing anything new to us, it is a reminder of what often happens to us almost without realizing it. How many of us always carry our cell phone in our hands? Some for work, others for being connected and others perhaps only for fear of missing out on what is happening (the famous Fear Of Missing Out).
Remember also that children are imitators by nature and much of what they do or say they learn from what they see we do. If we want to avoid that in the future they are addicted to mobiles or tablets we must educate by example.
We must disengage from the mobile and be more present in the lives of our children. If we start thinking we can realize that there are few things - or perhaps none - that are more important than spending time with our family. Childhood is a beautiful time that flies by and ends too soon.
