In our culture, it is common place to see people forever taking pictures. Most people use their phones while others have invested in a nice camera. It makes sense that we are always taking photographs, we have the technology and we want to remember every moment of our kids' lives. Every goal, every performance, every milestone. We want to do our best to ensure we do not miss a thing.
I get it. I do it myself. Since I live a good distance from my family, I try to capture these moments so I can share them. So I can somehow try and include them in our daily lives. Everything from events we attend to projects we do to even regular walks are captured forever and put on social media for my family to see.
This seemingly innocent task of taking pictures to capture the moments of our kids' lives can actually take away from that moment. Instead of having our eyes on our kids and our whole bodies engaged, we are taking pictures with our phones and then many edit them and instantly share on social media. If we're not careful, this can turn into us looking through our social media sites, checking email, etc. This takes parents even further away from their kids, which is not the intended goal.
Trying to capture a picture can actually ruin a moment. "Smile for me." "Stop, do that again." "Just one picture." And just like that, we've turn a genuinely enjoyable and authentic moment into a moment where our kids are striving to recreate something they did.
It is great to take pictures and wonderful to share with friends and family, but don't be so busy showing off your life that you forget to enjoy your life. Your kids look much better in real life than they do in pictures.
Our kids especially want to see our attention is on them fully and not divided between them and our phones. I recall one day I was playing with my, then, just two year old son and I was responding to an email and he said "mommy, phone away!". He was right. How could I adequately enjoy my time with him and use my phone? It was not fair to him. My attention was divided. I do not want my kids to grow up striving for my attention and losing to technology. ​ Take a few photos and then put the phone away. Wave, smile, and interact with your kid without a phone in hand. Break free from the hold your phone has on your life.Â
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