Moms! Put down that phone for a second and listen up! Scientists have new ammunition to tell you that you are just plain awful at this whole parenting thing! Their latest? Texting in front of your baby is going to turn him into a dud!
OK, so they had more scientific terms, namely: texting while parenting has a bad effect on babies' developing brains. The scientists say kids "disengage" while their moms are focusing on their phones. And I'm sure they're absolutely right, if all you ever do with your kid is plop them on the couch and bam away at those wee little keys with your thumbs. But let's get real.
Who does that?
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I'm sure some moms do, but if they do, they're not the type who read parenting websites like this one, looking for parenting tips to make sure that their kid has the absolute best. So I'm going to put it to you straight: text! Go ahead! If you need diapers, and your significant other has the chance to swing by the store on the way home, text. With the price of gas, I wouldn't want him to waste a trip.
Just do it in moderation ... like everything else. (Should I mention I'm not a doctor? I probably should ... so here it is; I'm a parent, not an M.D.)
This naughty news about texting in front of baby is a blip on the radar this is sure to terrify new moms. And I'm glad ... in the sense that every mom should keep on her toes because you never KNOW what kind of stuff is going to come out of a research lab that is worth listening to. But in the real world, I'm a moderation type of gal.
TV? Yes. I watched it. Because I was going to go out of my mind if I didn't hear something other than "bark, waaaaaaaaah, meow, bark, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah" during my maternity leave. Phone? Yes, you can talk on it, for awhile. Because the kid does not need your every single moment. Really. Good moms can still speak English at the end of the day instead of babble ... they're better at modelling good speech that way. The same goes for Facebooking moms. As long as it's not your whole life, your baby will survive. I swear (although, heck, what do I know? My kid was a baby during the MySpace years ... it moves that fast).
Do you text in front of your baby? What do they do while you're texting?
Image via Zawezome/Flickr
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Comments 6
Hm. My guess is they wouldn't study this and publish the results unless it was actually a problem. I think in general, we are disengaging from each other to "just send a quick text" or "just pop on Facebook" or "just read this last email..." how many times does a "quick" 5 second check turn into 5 minutes or 15 minutes or longer? And if you are constantly "just checking" in front of your baby, you are constantly disengaging. I catch myself doing it too.
I'm all for independent play and building a child's attention span and ability to entertain themselves. I don't feel you need to hover and chat with your baby constantly, because they need chill/quiet time too, but I've tried to make a conscieous effort not to text so much in front of my baby...add up all those "quick minutes" and see how long it really is. I think we underestimate how much time we spend on those smartphones.
Ok. Rant over. That being said, yes please, text your hubby to get more diapers. Unless you want to use papertowel and duct tape that night.
What's wrong with paper towels and duct tape? (LOL, can you tell by the comment that I'm a guy?) Seriously, whatever happened to just calling and talking to someone?
OH PUH-LEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm deaf and rely on text messaging to communicate with people, is that going to make me a bad parent when my baby is born and mess up his development?!?! NOO!!!!!! ALL of my deaf friends kids are smart and have a great relationship with their parents and other people so I call this "study" bulls**t!
What a bunch of crap.
Ok, I can't possibly keep my baby engaged all day every day. I need to eat and go to the bathroom - sometimes when she's not sleeping. And I know I'm not supposed to, but I've given in to a half hour of a cartoons while I do these things. I can tell she's not engaged, but hell, I need to disengage myself! I don't feel bad because then I get on the floor and play with her for a while, change her, feed her, and rock her to sleep. Parenting is a full time job and I'm not going to worry about taking a quick break or two during the day.
Um, yes I text in front of my kids. My daughters, 13 and 14, both have cell phones and constantly text their friends. I don't let it bother me unless it's after 10pm. No more phones after that. "But mom why do you still get to have yours?" Because I am an adult. When you are an adult you will get to make all sorts of lovely decisions, like this one, and your kids will not think it is fair, either.
But if I am texting, and they start talking at me, I put the damn phone down and pay attention to them. I don't want my kids thinking that whatever message I am tapping out on my screen is more important than whatever they have to tell me. I never want them to think that.
There is nothing wrong with texting in front of your kids - as long as you're not ignoring them. THAT is when it becomes a problem.