Stop. Watch. and Roll with it

I like to think of myself as an active parent. Active in this case at the playground. I like to get in there, play hide and seek, go down a slide, play with my kid until he inevitably makes friends with another kid and gives me the boot. (this is happening much more frequently now and totally depresses me) I make an effort though. I think it's important.

However, I have noticed some behavior of mine (and other parents) that just stinks. Once he is off and running with a new 'friend' for that 30 minutes we are there something almost instantaneous happens. The phone comes out annnnnd....I'm off....checking my work emails, facebook, instagram, pinterest, etc..pick your poison. It just comes natural to look at it, as natural as looking at your watch for the time.


This happened the other day, and as I looked up from my phone to see what the little guy was up to I noticed that the other parents around me were doing the same thing. I looked over at Aiden and he was very deeply involved in some make believe and was just saying and doing the cutest stuff and his little butt crack was showing and it was so cute and I almost missed that! And for what? To see where a friend of a friend was checking into for lunch? To look at another project on Pinterest that I'll likely never do, to look at a photo on instagram of someone I don't even know? To check the work email that can certainly wait until I get home in an hour? Is it worth it? NO. Of course not! I know that. Right?

Did anyone else read the study done in Boston last week on parents who were focused more on their devices than on the children at dinner? You can read it here. It's super depressing and while I don't categorize myself as one of these parents I know I'm guilty of the behavior.


Well that ends now. From now on I am putting the phone away or turning it off during certain moments or leaving it behind completely. That means no more phone during mealtime, playtime, family time,etc...because I need to watch what is happening in front of me. I need to remember these little moments and capture them in my head instead of on my phone. Let's all stop what we're doing. watch our kids and roll with it, enjoy it, take it in....I'm taking back my place at the playground. Super Present Mom!!!!  It's more important than anything my Iphone can ever tell me.