Present

"You must be present to win."

The above quote seems like such a given, but how often are we truly NOT present?! I've been thinking a lot lately about how much I hate iPhones. How does 1 little machine steal so much of our time and attention?! How does 1 tiny rectangle suck so much of our time and cause us to be disengaged?! I've had this sort of distaste for them since they were 1st introduced in our family. I used to get so frustrated with my husband when we'd be out and about and I'd look over and find him on his phone. But then a year or so later I got my own phone and became equally as guilty. To top it all off, Hope now has her "phone" (one of our old ones) and falls right into line with her parents. I hate it!

I often wonder what this generation of kids will be like as grownups. Will they be able to make meaningful/lasting relationships? Will they engage in true and deep conversations with those around them? How many milestones or moments were missed by their parents b/c there was a phone between parent and child? When they think back to time spent as a family, will the phone be a primary image/memory?

So how do we unplug? How do we truly become PRESENT in each moment and with the people we love? Do we set time limits? Do we set a proper place? How do we as parents model for our kids that connection is important, that face-to-face time is always more important that Facetime? How do we teach them to give people our un-divided attention? 

To be honest, I'm not 100% sure what the answer is but I know I definitely spend WAY too much time on my phone. It may only be for a minute or two here and there, but those are minutes that my kids deserve to have. I don't necessarily think they need to be done away with all together, but limits need to be set & boundaries need to be placed. . . for the grown ups and the kids!