Have you seen this quote? Every time I come across it in my Pinterest feed, I think “Seriously!?” then I get a little sad because then I think about my kids growing up in this computer age.
I had this post in my drafts for sometime, it’s been on the tip of my brain for a long time. Every time I talk about it or go to write about it, it instantly becomes a touchy subject and seems to come out all wrong. Most anything that relates back to parenting, becomes a touchy subject because there is no one way to talk about it – there are millions of sides to the parenting story because we are all different individuals doing whats best for our own little individuals. So because I think and am interested in how to navigate childhood in this technology age, I wanted to talk about it but not preach but rather share how we handle raising our 2 kids in this age of technology and then ask you how you do it. This is what works for us, and our kids with their temperaments, dynamics and at their current ages (it all plays into it). Which may not work for our neighbors, for you, or the family across the world. Everyone’s circumstances and family dynamics are totally different, so something that might work for you might not work for me and vice versa. Basically, no (I mean, NO) judging but this is what works for us. And I’d love it if you would also share how you raise your kid(s) so that this doesn’t have to be a sad childhood quote? Make sense?
The way I see it, the basic skills it takes to use an iphone, a tablet or a computer, are pretty innate (when you are young, key) and they don’t really need to be fostered (like other skills in life that do need to be). The importance of learning how to play, share, read, be social, be empathetic and interact on an eye contact human level, feel much more important and are skills that need fostering and attention. From my personal, everyday experience I know that it takes no time to acquire the skills to use an iPhone or iPad (I was blown away when my kids first used my phone) and it also takes no time to become addicted to using them (again, from personal experience).
