Plugged in mommies

Nearly everyone in the US has a cell phone. From what I understand, about 65% of those phones are smart phones. Most of my friends have iPhones. All of my friends use their phones responsibly (in my presence, at least). A few of them have the babycenter app. Several of them use apps I've never heard of. Almost all of them play Words With Friends (including myself, who nabs my husband's iTouch when he gets home from work to play this silly game with my friends). I've never seen one of them ignore their child (for more than three seconds) in favor of the iPhone and I haven't ever seen one of them do anything dangerous as a result of being distracted by the iPhone.

My phone does not alert me when severe weather is coming. My phone does not play a little jingle when x, y, or z stock does one thing or another. My phone does not allow me to access Facebook, Google, or any other website from the convenience of the OB's waiting room or from the front seat of my car. My phone rings when I'm called, beeps when I'm texted, and is always there to provide the time. When I'm out and about, my phone is generally in the diaper bag and out of sight/out of mind. On occasion, I'll send a text while playing with Daniel, but they are usually short and almost always have to do with him (playdates, doctor's appointments, updates to Daddy). I personally haven't jumped off of the "normal cell phone" bandwagon and after this weekend, I'm not sure that I want to.

Sunday, we stopped by a new park on our way home from church. A family of five arrived just as we did and boy, were they cute. The two older kids and the dad were on bikes; Mama pushed the youngest one in the stroller. I commented to Doug what an adorable family they were. And then the truth came out. . . Before the kids could even get their kickstands down, the mom pulled out her iPhone and totally disengaged from the family. Lord knows whether she was working, reading the news, or sending an email about a baby shower, but I was bothered. It was 72 degrees out, not a cloud in the sky, and her three kids were begging to play. The closest she came to playing was sitting on the swing next to her kids with her face buried in her touch screen. They were there less than 30 minutes, during which time I personally witnessed 3 incidents where she either couldn't find one of her children, one of her children was hurt and she (obviously) didn't know what happened, or one of her children was in a scuff with another neighborhood kid and she was completely unaware. Seeing what a mess of a distraction an iPhone could cause in a normal, every day situation disgusted me.

While I hope I would continue to use my phone intelligently (and appropriately), this woman was enough to make me think long and hard about upgrading my lowly little phone to something more powerful. I guess it's like anything else - if used appropriately, it could be a wonderful and powerful tool. If used irresponsibly, it could do some serious damage. It makes me wonder how a woman like that can set any limits for her children as she obviously cannot set any limits for herself. Thankfully, I can and do set limits. I suppose when the time comes that a smart phone is the only way to go, I'll continue to be thankful for those limits.