40 Days of Summer is a personal photographic project I do annually, capturing one photograph of my family life every day, for the duration of the project.
Day 28 – Wednesday, 18th January 2012 @ 9.34am
Captured - 3DS playing with the cousins
The story – The morning after sleep-over night with their cousins, there’s some serious 3DS playing going on. Our boys got a 3DS to share for Christmas, and i’m happy to say they aren’t on it all the time. It’s an occasional thing, which is exactly what I wanted it to be.
I really struggle with technology and how much of it my kids should know about and be exposed to.
I can’t believe how addicted little minds can get to games, and computers, and when I hunt my kids off whichever technology they happen to be using at the time, this is the time (out of everything in their little lives), they are more likely to throw a tantrum or argue with me. Technology-free days are common in our household, not that they go down well (especially with Beau).
But I am so determined that my kids will be occasional gamers, not full time gamers. In this day in age I find it’s hard to avoid having these things around. Iphones, and Ipad’s, and laptops ……. There’s such a fine line between letting them learn, and grow with technology and keeping it in perspective.
Our generation of kids are so technology savvy. I know my own kids are so savvy it’s ridiculous. They can navigate PC’s and Mac’s to do just about anything, and if you are not watching them every second they will google whatever they want just by walking over to the computer, and typing it in. Even Beau can spell well enough to type something into google, and he’s not even in kindergarten.I remember once finding that Dusty had googled ‘Vampires’ and luckily saw him before he went too far into the search. In fact, at Christmas time Dusty asked to if he could research what to buy me for Christmas on google. I know I shouldn’t have looked but in this order – this is what he googled… (yes, he did write these himself) 1. Womens costumes 2. Womens cameras 3. Womens lego. And, yes I laughed so hard when I read these!
But how can we expect them to NOT want to use technology when most of us are setting a shocking example? What do they see us doing all the time? Sitting on our phones, and computers, and facebooking, and messaging people… And even if we as parents aren’t doing these things in front of them, they see it from people down the street, and when they visit people’s houses. It is everywhere. But I am making a commitment to back off from these things around my kids. Their little minds need a rest from seeing it all the time. I guess it’s all about keeping things in perspective.
One thing I can guarantee, darling boys of mine, is that I will not have you sitting down playing on the computer all day long. Not now. Not ever. I’ll be telling you to get your backsides OUTSIDE to kick a soccer ball, or play cricket, or ride on your bikes – just like my Mum did when we were kids.
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