I came across a very moving post the other day on a blog called Hands Free Mama and I felt it was apropos, given the recent posts on parents developing attachment and learning how to attune to their children.
The post is called “How to Miss a Childhood” and, woah!, is it ever convicting. Read it here. Time to put down the cell phones, iPads, and laptops when we’re hanging with our little ones. Our kids are watching us as we pay attention to our technology more than them and, as Connor McClenahan mentioned in his guest post on attachment earlier this week, “There is no substitute for attachment with your child. Your child doesn’t understand your intention to be available – only your actions.”
Powerful stuff.
Hands Free Mama is a blog written by a mom who has committed to making memories and letting go of the distractions that pull her away from fully engaging with her children and other loved ones (like…blogging?). Her posts are extremely inspiring and encouraging, and couldn’t we all use a little more of that in our lives?
Let’s be parents who show our children how much they mean to us with our loving actions, rather than our (failed) good intentions.
Don’t let technology cause you to miss out on your kid’s childhood.
Oh my goodness! Thanks for re-posting this one. The detail helped me see some of my habits. I try to be very careful, but….I could relate to some of those specific examples. What has also come to my attention lately is how easily I get annoyed with my son when he cannot disengage from his handheld computer game. Noticing this irritation helps keep me honest when I’m plugged into my technology. Is there any difference?
The other thing this article makes me think about is how true this is in our relationships with spouses, partners or other adults. Thanks again for sharing the article.