Who is raising your child?

Was at a hospital today for my routine annual check up and these stickers on the glass panels caught my attention.

‘Who is raising your child? You or your IPad?’
‘Be a present parent’

While the 3 messages are meant to encourage reading to your child and ultimately spending quality time with your child, but yes, the message is loud and clear…Who IS raising our kids today?

Parenting today is not the same as how my parents raised me and my siblings and then me to my children who are adults now. We were never blessed with electronic gadgets nor social media to pass our time. We were constantly innovating ways to occupy our time and make ourselves happy.

But so much has changed in the last 10 years (or more?) where we see more and more technology creeping into our lives and we are engaging less with people around us.

In this busy world where in most cases both parents had to work to provide for the family, many do not have time or have very little time for their children. With hand phones, laptops and any gadgets that are easily carried around, most working adults are finding themselves ‘working’ all the time. Work has become priority and then there are the expectations by bosses, clients, colleagues to respond to work issues all the time as there is absolutely no excuse for not being contactable. Hence it seems we work 24/7.

Therefore it is not unusual to hear parents telling their children that they are tired all the time. Parents do not even have time for themselves.

While we cannot deny that technology has taken over our lives in many ways and has improved our lives too, but how do we balance all these and at the same time, ensure that our children are raised with the best care and love that they deserve?

No one solution works for everyone but for a start, some house rules on using phones and gadgets is in order.

Images taken from emailingwithmygirlfriends.com by Michelle Dickstein