The title and topic idea comes from a friend I talked to over the weekend. We had a discussion, about the need to SLOW DOWN, take a break from technology and sit down together as a Family. My friend and her family with young children were out to dinner. They observed another Family being seated at the restaurant as well, also with young children. As the other Family got settled at their table, the Mom began to pull items out of a tote bag, iPads for each child, most likely to keep them occupied. I said to my friend, “Oh, did she and her husband want some peace? (still no excuse for technology at the dinner table) “No,” Sheri answered, “They were on THEIR phones.” We talked about how sad it was. My thought is that the Mom may have thought she was doing the right thing, you know, trying to keep her kids happy and not wanting to disappoint them by taking away their “candy.” You know, sometimes kids need to hear the word, “NO.” Time around a dinner table with your Family is precious. You only get so much of it. It is the perfect place to put the technology away and focus on the people around the table. It is also the perfect place to come together at the end of the day to designate that the school/work day is over and it’s now time for the people we love. It is also a time to pass on your values. We only get so many days with our children to teach them all the things they need to know to get along in this world…Why would one squander any of that time or miss out on the opportunity to teach something valuable like, “You are more important than anything else, especially what’s on that screen?…I wrote a book on this subject, it is near and dear to my heart. When you are on your phone, at the dinner table with others, you are saying that what is on your phone, or who is on your phone is more important than the people around the table. Once, we were out to dinner with another family and their children pulled out their phones after we ordered. Our teenage children all looked at us as if to say, “Hey, is this a sign that we can get ours out?” I gave them the look and they knew the answer was no. it was rude and sad that their kids were so attached to their phones. I was surprised that this lesson had not been taught. There is a time and place for everything.
It’s a Great Day🍎
