![\"gettyimages-640249090sm\"](\"https:\/\/cdn2.hubspot.net\/hubfs\/3295812\/Imported_Blog_Media\/GettyImages-640249090sm.jpg\")
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Before I was a mom, I had all kinds of ideas about how I would parent. No television. Limited processed foods. And I certainly wouldn\u2019t stand for a tantrum in the grocery store. (Hah! I was so funny back then.)<\/p>\n
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Now that my son\u2019s 20 months \u2013 and I\u2019ve been living in survival mode for the past couple of years \u2013 I\u2019m happy if he\u2019s content, even if it means he\u2019s eating goldfish crackers while dancing to an inappropriate top 40 song.<\/p>\n
All of my na\u00efve parenting plans have gone out the window and I don\u2019t feel bad about that. One thing I did not consider, though, was my<\/em> screen time in the presence of my kid. And I need to make a change.<\/p>\n I\u2019m going to be honest, I often find my face in my phone when I\u2019m hanging out with my toddler \u2013 during play time, bath time and even dinner time. I justify this because I have to do my banking, my work is on my phone, and maybe I have to Google my kid\u2019s rash, or cough, or whatever ailment he has that day, before he goes to bed.<\/p>\n I think I became more dependent on my phone when he was a newborn. I had a million mom questions that only the internet could answer, and I would multitask and search on my phone while breastfeeding. I also needed to connect with other adults (shout out to my mommy friends group chat) for support, advice, and let\u2019s be real \u2013 sanity.<\/p>\n Now, I am trying to fit in a full day of work (no more consuming than being a stay-at-home parent) and take care of my son\u2019s needs, with a very limited window to handle anything in my own life. Parent problems, right? This means I\u2019m trying to check out the news, make an online purchase or post an adorable Instagram photo during my time with him \u2013 on my phone.<\/p>\n But what does this look like to my son? He\u2019s at a critical stage of development, absorbing everything like a sponge, learning how to interact with the world by reading my social and emotional cues. I\u2019m not talking about my Facebook post with emojis. I\u2019m talking about my real, physical presence.<\/p>\n Early Childhood Development research shows that babies and toddlers need a responsive environment where they can emotionally bond with caregivers and interact with the physical world around them. When I\u2019m buried in my phone, he might as well be learning to interact with a wall. He feels unimportant and ignored.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not saying that I\u2019ve neglected my son, but I think I can do better for him. I\u2019ve set a goal to stay off my phone during our time together. For me, this means physically leaving it in another room so I\u2019m not tempted by every ping, buzz or glance. I\u2019ve decided that I don\u2019t need to live tweet my life or document every precious moment with a photo (hey brain, it\u2019s up to you to store those memories now). Maybe my kid will unlearn that a smartphone is a trigger for saying the word \u201ccheese!\u201d.<\/p>\n What is your relationship with your favourite device? How does it impact your kids? I\u2019m sure I\u2019m not the only one who needs to do a check in here. I\u2019d encourage tips for ditching the device in the comments.<\/p>\n If we don\u2019t make these changes when our kids are little, I think we might be impacting their development, perception of the world and their own dependence on these almighty devices. At the very least, we won\u2019t have much traction in telling our kids to put their own phones away at the dinner table.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Before I was a mom, I had all kinds of ideas about how I would parent. No television. Limited processed foods. And I certainly wouldn\u2019t stand for a tantrum in the grocery store. (Hah! I was so funny back then.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-857","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-mom-moments"},"yoast_head":"\n