I spent the morning with my daughter watching internet videos full of colorful characters sing the alphabet song and count the single digit numbers to music. And I enjoyed every minute of it. But after about ninety minutes of smiling and cooing, her tired eyes settled down for a nap.
For her it was a much needed rest, but for me it was an opportunity for some me time.
I found myself deep into online reading when she woke up. She grunted as her big brown eyes tried to re-adjust to her surroundings. That was followed by a few more noises and a slight rocking onto her side.
And moments later, she rolled over.
It was the first time in her few short months in this life that she’d rolled on her own. I praised her with claps and kisses, happy I was able to see such a milestone.
But I could have missed it if I had been staring at the computer screen.
Since I started nursing, it’s been nothing for me to pick up my phone or turn on my laptop and surf the web to pass the time. But next thing you know, she’s unlatched, still awake and I’m still staring at the screen.
I figured web surfing was something every mother did while nursing. And I suppose it’s not that bad. But what if my web surfing continues and it becomes a problem when she’s older?
The thought hit me over the weekend when my husband showed me a cute video that was titled “An Open Letter to Mothers.” It featured Kid President, an adorable boy about seven years old, dressed in his Sunday’s best, delivering a top ten list of things for moms to know in such a way that would make anyone laugh…really hard.
And the number one thing he thought moms needed to know was “put down ya phone….unless your kid’s name is phone.”
I laughed.
Then I shuttered with a feeling of conviction.
I knew I needed to do something, and be more conscious of how I use the internet when I’m with my daughter.
I had to find times to disconnect.
That meant shutting down the computer and putting away the phone whenever she was awake…unless I was using them to engage her.
After all, I really do want to pay attention to the little things, and capture those incredibly special moments. And I don’t want any of her first sentences have the words “put,” “phone,” and “down” in them.
