Motherly Advice

I love living in this digital age.  Access to email, info, friends, books, music... I carry it around everywhere I go and it is a wonderful thing.  I know there was a time in my life when I listened to cassette tapes and phones had cords, but I hardly remember it. I'm sure that when I used to wait in line somewhere I actually had to just wait in line (or maybe even talk to the people around me) with no iPhone to entertain me.  All of my lovely little gadgets have changed my life and they have changed the world.  We can now communicate constantly but also not at all. With our eyes glued to our screens we often miss out on what is happening around us in real time.  The other day I was at this outdoor shopping mall and I sat down for a minute near the duck pond and watched the little kids feeding the ducks.  The kids were adorable, it was idyllic. It reminded me of when I used to bring my little ones to that same pond. I turned to the woman next to me to tell her how cute her little girl was and that's when I noticed that every single mother there was looking at her phone.  Not a single one of them was watching their kids.  They weren't not watching them to the point of neglect, the kids weren't in danger, the moms were just missing out on what was happening right in front of them. Those kids were running, playing, laughing, and being as cute as could be.  What Facebook status or email or tweet could possible be more interesting than that?  This is where my motherly advice comes in - PUT DOWN YOUR PHONE, YOU ARE MISSSING ALL THE GOOD STUFF!