Thoughts on Mothering in the 21st Century

The Bearenstain Bear books are all the rage in our house right now. The girls love to read the stories over and over again, check out new BB books every week at the library, and they even like to pretend we're the characters in the Bear family. ;)  As much as I sometimes dread reading these lengthy stories for the umpteenth time, I do love these sweet values & lessons the storylines deliver. This week, we read The Bearenstain Bears' Computer Trouble for the first time. Some of the topics in the book were way over our girls' heads (ie. internet safety), but the overarching theme of keeping screen time to a minimum certainly didn't fall on deaf ears. With our girls still being so young, it's been relatively easy to keep their screen time to a bare minimum. Shelby gets "tablet time" on weekend mornings, and then occasionally the girls are allowed to watch a show or a movie (a couple days a week). I know it will probably get harder as they get older, but for now our biggest struggle with screens is my own.

As much as I hate to admit it, playing the sleep game or reading the same books over and over again aren't the most stimulating of activities. ;)  So stealing a peek at my phone for a bit of a distraction from the mundane was/is very tempting throughout the long days waiting for Daddy to come home so I can get some much-needed adult conversation. I often used my screen time on my phone as an excuse to have a connection to the outside world when I was at home mothering. But I hated the idea of my girls thinking I was more interested in my phone than them, so maybe a year ago or so I took Facebook off of my phone, turned off notifications for email (why did I need to hear my phone ding for each piece of junk email that hit my account?), and reserved computer/tablet time for when the girls were napping or in bed for the night. It made a huge difference for me!!!! I really strive to only use my phone to make calls, texts, check the weather (how did people ever live before being able to check the weather at the palm of their hands?!), and of course use the Google app when my children ask me off-the-wall questions and expect me to know the answers (how did parents survive before Google?!)--definitely easier said than done. But I know I have to lead by example!

Since reading The Bearenstain Bears' Computer Trouble, I've come across a couple blog posts that have kept me thinking about the role of technology in our lives today....

**Beautiful Moments Without Technology via The Art of Simple {HERE}
I found myself nodding along with this blog post as the author writes about how we can best connect and have memorable experiences without technology. But the part that really stuck out to me was this: "the value of teaching our kids how to navigate without technology...I want my son to be able to navigate the subway without an app. I want him to get on the bus and feel comfortable asking the driver if it’s the right bus for him. I’m worried that if he always has a device in his back pocket, he’ll never know those things." This is me to a T--I can't get around a new city without the aid of my GPS, what is going to look for our children?! Case in point, just this week I learned how to use a manual can opener for the first time in my 32 years of life! I've always thought it was silly to learn how when we had a perfectly good electric can opener, but Derek finally taught me how to use the manual one this week...and it's ridiculous how much pride it gave me knowing I could do it! How many basic life skills will our children not have due to dependence on technology? I think technology is amazing, but we shouldn't be so dependent on it! (I'm mainly talking to myself here, ha!)

**Outdoor Concoctions Kitchen via The Imagination Tree {HERE}
This post doesn't actually have anything to do with technology, but rather the lack thereof! Shelby's school has a huge outdoor classroom with a mud kitchen, and I love the idea of having one in your very own backyard! This is something I'll have to keep in mind as the warmer weather arrives. ..which won't be long b/c we're seeing temps hit the 80s more & more frequently these days! I think parents today sometimes have to be very intentional about getting their kids outside & letting them get dirty!

**Their Name is Today by Johann Christoph Arnold {HERE}  
This isn't a blog post, but I had to include it! I blogged about this book a while back, but it's really a fantastic read if this topic interests you. This book was gifted to all the parents at Shelby's school, and it's such a powerful reminder to fight for your kiddos' childhoods.