March is Reading Month 2012, Tip #15: Less Texting, More Talking

Tip #15: Less Texting, More Talking

I am so tired of people yapping through the grocery store, texting while crossing the street, or checking their phone while bicycling.

Unplug...

March is Reading Month, Tip #15: Less Texting, More Talking

Less texting, more talking...

Technology is a wonderful thing- until it isn't.  A while ago, Jane Brody posted this article in the NY Times vilifying the cell phone-stroller-brigade, pushing parents to be present and communicate with their children.  I think I see her point, but maybe for different reasons.  I want fewer digital distractions- not to raise super-children, but for us both to really experience the joy of connecting with each other.  And I have to admit in a Brody-like way, it is alarming watching groups of college students walking together and texting and talking but not looking at each other, it's crazy to see a parent making no eye-contact yapping on a cell phone at the grocery, and I am still cringing from a horrible coffee meeting I had with a certain someone who kept texting the whole time (although, considering this was in May of 2010, perhaps I need to let it go).

While I wait for my library-turn with Sherry Tuttle's book, Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less form Each Other, I think I know how I'll feel after reading it: sometimes it's hard to connect with someone in person if you are holding a device that connects you to the world and in-person connections are so vital to our well-being.

So I make a  commitment to connect with my kids a little better.  If I don't answer your call, your text, or your tweet: that's why.  I want to be present where I'm at, not virtually.