Parents today have a really hard job ahead of them! We lead busy lives. In many families both parents work, leaving little time for quality interaction with kids; so often times kids are given the TV, video games, or other sources of entertainment so that parents can use the little free time they have to get household duties and other obligations accomplished. But how is this lifestyle really impacting the development of our children's growing minds and bodies? What will this generation of children remember when they look back on their childhood; will it be filled with memories of television shows, video games, text messaging, and internet surfing? The influence of technology, high-tech interactive toys, mindless entertainment, packaged processed foods and fast food, and convenience items for parenting have made us lazy as parents and made our children lazy as well. These types of sedentary activities and endless hours of passive entertainment are limiting our children in their development and robbing them of the simple pleasures of being kids. Major childhood issues, like developmental delays, ADD, behavioral problems, obesity, and illiteracy, to name a few, are all on the rise and recent research has discovered a connection between these problems and the overuse of technology, unhealthy eating, sedentary activities, and limited bonding with parents. Running, climbing, playing, creating with the natural objects in their environment, pretending, mimmicking mom and dad and helping with household chores, reading, drawing....... these are the simple, natural activities of childhood; it's what we used to do as children before TiVo, hand held video games, Leapfrog, and teaching babies to read became so popular.
I also know that the pressures of living in such a fast-paced world means that our daily lives are packed with work, activities, obligations, and very little down time. Modern technology can make life more efficient and the convenience this technology brings is just too enticing. But where's the trade off? When we spend so many hours in the car, on the computer, on our phones, what is happening to our kids? What are they doing when we're so busy? I'm certainly guilty of at times having used the TV to occupy my toddler while I was busy, spending too much time on the computer, and buying into some of the latest high-tech baby gear, but overall I try to avoid these things in order to provide my children with a more natural and organic lifestyle because I understand the importance of it. And really, it all begins with small, easy changes, which is the whole point of this blog.
This blog will discuss how modern technology, convenience items, unhealthy eating, and a fast-paced lifestyle are impacting the development of our infants, children, and teens as it pertains to their physical, mental, and social/emotional development, as well as their overall health and family relations. This blog will also share ideas for how to:
- simplify our lives and our children's lives in small, easy ways
- create an appropriate balance between the use of technology and good old-fashioned fun in our children's daily lives
- create opportunities for children to develop their minds and bodies naturally and unhindered
- improve delayed development, behavior and attention problems, and health
- build self esteem, social skills, values and family relationships
- use various natural and organic methods for healthy eating and living
Contributers to this blog will include: myself (a pediatric occupational therapist, former teacher, and mother), my sister (a pediatric nurse practitioner), my mother (a pediatric occupational therapist for over 30 years), and other friends and professionals.
I hope that parents who read this blog and share a similar philosophy on raising children will also contribute their own ideas as well! I don't claim to know everything and I love learning new things from other parents and professionals!
The next post will start from the beginning and talk about the impact of technology on the development of infants. What is tummy time and why is it SO important? How do all those contraptions for babies really affect their development?
I enjoyed reading your blog, and I'm looking forward to future posts! I was shocked to hear that our local Kroger now has carts that have DVD players to occupy the kids while mom or dad shops. Seriously?!? DVDs in the grocery store? True my child is only 10 months, and I may come to love those DVD carts when he is a toddler, but right now I'm optimistic that I can teach my son to behave and enjoy himself without the attraction of a DVD.
ReplyDeleteHi Kacy, welcome. Thanks for your comment and I'm glad that you like the blog! I didn't know that DVD players in a grocery cart existed and I'm so sad to hear it. It's so unnecessary, which you obviously already figured out. Shopping with a child is such a perfect opportunity to interact, bond, and to teach and a DVD player may keep the child quiet, but it's depriving them of a great opporunity for some one on one time with mom or dad. My kids learned to say new words in the grocery store because I was labeling everything. They know their fruits and vegetables; they get to touch them and taste samples; they participate in picking out items, etc, etc. I do bring snacks and toys for when they get antsy and it's not without a little effort, but overall I love grocery shopping with my kids because they enjoy the experience when I make it interactive for them.
ReplyDeleteAnd, if parents never start using the DVD players at the grocery store, or in the car, or out at dinner then kids never beg for them and act up in order to get them. Kacy you are right - when parents take the time to engage with their children and provide them with interavtice activities that build skills and intelligence (reading, coloring, non-computerized toys...) and take the time to teach them how to behave outside the home, then your children will behave and they will enjoy the activities your brought for them, and they will enjoy the experience. It just takes some effort on the part of the parents. But adding in high-tech, mindless entertainment starts a difficult downward spiral of dependence. But more on that in another post.
When my first baby was little, I used to put him in the Bjorn when we went to the grocery store (I wised up by the time my second came along and used a sling - much easier on my back!). I used to get the strangest looks from people who heard me before they saw me - I would be giving my son a running narrative of everything I was doing. "Let's get apples! One, two, three, four red apples! Now we need cilantro! Look at the leafy green cilantro! Doesn't it smell good?" But I really do think things like that - giving a running narrative of what you're doing, what you're seeing - make a huge difference, especially with language development.
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