Took the little one to the pool tonight for swim lessons. Okay, Okay. They're not really lessons so much as they are "Hey, here's a few bucks, let me rent out a small section of your pool to swim around with my little one"
Saw a dad at the pool. Bluetooth on, iPad in hand, and two year old somewhere around there.
Saw a mom at the pool. Arguing with her five year old to NOT take a shower after swimming. Bluetooth on, iPad in hand, work laptop open on stadium seats. Her reasoning for not wanting the child to shower "Look, I have to get this stuff to the office by 6:30, we don't have time for you to shower. Let's go"
Wait, isn't the whole point of this little experience called Mommy and Me (or, as in my case, Daddy and Me). Wherein Mommy/Daddy is supposed to spend time with little one. Not with the Bluetooth. Not with the work laptop.
Dad (yeah, the same dad from earlier), in the pool. Bluetooth off (it's not waterproof or I'm sure he would've had it on), two year old in hand and iPad somewhere put away. Getting frustrated with kid because he won't 'perform' on command. Here's a little exchange
Kid: "I don't wanna get in the water"
Dad: "Well, we're here for 30 minutes, get in the water"
Kid: "No, don't wanna"
Dad: "Fine, I'm getting in" and, true to his word, in he goes, off to swim.
Kid: Crying
Dad: "Well, c'mon"
Kid: Walking to stands
Dad: Ignoring kid
Kid: At stands
Dad: Out of pool, drying off. Frustrated. Grabs bag, grabs kid, leaves
How sad. It really seems like I am living in a generation of parents who view their children as one big scheduled distraction to another. It's almost like the dad was saying "Look, little 2 year old boy, I have a busy scheduled. Right now my Outlook Calendar tells me that I have 30 mins to spend with you, so, let's go kid: PERFORM because I have the time"
Really?
Can someone please tell me when the hell this happened?
When did spending time with your kid, spending time with your family, spending time with your spouse, etc... become a distraction?
I've seen people at work all day Tweeting throughout the day, checked in with Four Square, IM up and running constantly so they can 'stay in touch' only to see these same folks come home and be irritated because their kids or their spouse wants to connect with the.
I've seen these very same people leave the house, go to the corner bar/store/you-name-the-place to be 'alone' only to find them there, plugged in, tweeting away, etc, etc, etc
I LOVE technology. I love working with technology.
But I also know that I am a human being.
A person who, by very definition, is a social being.
I needed social interactions and contact--and, no, I'm not talking about the Social Graph kind of connections, I'm talking about those interactions which, *GASP* involve eye to eye contact and human contact.
A recent study found that the number one complaint of kids is that they feel they have to compete with technology for their parents time and attention. The number one wish from high school kids? That there parents would turn off the computer/tv/cell phone at dinner. This, coming from high school kids. Shouldn't that tell you a whole helluva lot?
So, do yourself a favor tomorrow. Plug into technology all day. Throw yourself into it. Be passionate about what you do. When you walk through the door to your family, turn it all off for 30 mins and be there with your loved ones.
If you can manage to play Angry Birds, I'm sure you can handle being disconnected for 30 minutes. Make the time
