Put down your phone

I was waiting in a doctor’s office recently and watched a young mother who had a curious, active toddler with her. He played with the toys in the office and chattered away to her as he looked at everything around him with wonder and amazement.

But sadly, his mom hardly noticed. For the 15 minutes or so that I watched this woman and her son, her attention and her thumbs were firmly planted on her cell phone while her child was begging for her attention and interaction.

As she tapped away, another person in the waiting room caught her son before he fell off a chair he was trying to stand up on, and when he got no response from his mother to his talk and questions, he wandered out of sight into the attached pharmacy. He was gone long enough that it made me uncomfortable because it doesn’t take long for an unsupervised child to get into trouble. I was waiting for a crash or a wail from the pharmacy. When he didn’t return, she finally, but reluctantly, got up to find him. As she dragged him back to the waiting room and he was fussing, she scolded him saying, “Why do you always do this?” I was tempted to say something, but kept my thoughts to myself. However, I instantly felt sorry for him. If she could ignore him in a public place with others watching, what does she do when they are at home? She missed multiple chances to turn this everyday experience into a wonderful learning opportunity for him because she was too busy with her phone.

All parents know how a toddler can wear you out. But childhood is too short and too precious to ignore children because your phone seems more important. Parents, put your phones away. Interact with your children, teach them, and help them to learn about the wonderful things in the world. Those chances won’t always be there, but I promise, your phone will.

JOYCE WILLIAMS North Little Rock