Mom vs Technology.

I am married to a very clever chap who is an engineer. By trade a microchip designer, he works for a large multi-national company. You know, the one whose commercials ring out the catchy little 5-note tune that lets you know that they are ‘inside’ the technology product you’re considering purchasing. The one that you need to buy to upgrade the one that you have already which you probably didn’t need in the first place.

Our house contains a decent amount of technology. Yet, I am happy to say, that partly due to budget constraints, and partly due to my tutting and rolling of eyes, it’s not excessive. Now compared to that of my parents who are just about grappling with a digital tv and a laptop for surfing and Skyping, our house might seem like Santa’s technology grotto. We have a couple of smart phones. And we have an ageing fruit of a desk top computer along  with a laptop that’s for his work, and this shiny one that I bought with my first few pay checks last year. There’s a games console that ‘we’ as a family play on occasionally, and a couple of hand held games systems that our kids use from time to time.  And that’s it. No, really. 

And yet that small haul brings with it some unexpected challenges and headaches that I’m finding myself facing as a mom and spouse.

I was thinking today that my daughter is part of the first generation of i-babies. She was a preschooler when the touchscreen phone phenomenon came about and like many of her peers had no problem in instantly figuring out how to use it.  And the replacing of batteries, setting of the DVR and uploading catchy tunes has been way easier to master than learning to use the potty or sharing. And her little brother is getting there too – as soon as he’s reading for himself there will be no stopping him. Here is the first issue; my kids are probably starting to think I’m stupid. I realize that I’m starting to ask daughter to help her younger brother set up the racing game on the tv because I don’t know how to. And I’m sure it’s only going to get worse. I’ve already heard ‘Mom, I can do it faster’ several times when I'm trying to set the TIVO. How can I get them to appreciate that I’m actually a smart, college educated woman who know vastly more useful things that they are also going to need to know in their lives?!

Secondly, the technology as recreation idea has made the discipline structure multi-tiered. The idea of ‘screen time’ always worked well as a generic idea. We’ve all said ‘If you do that again, you will lose your screen time for this week’. And when they are a preschooler that works well because all they want to do is watch Curious George or Charlie and Lola several times a day. But second graders are different. If you say they can’t go on the laptop they ask for the Wii. If you say no to that, they progress to the DS. And if that’s refused, the TV is the fallback. And if you decide to pull everything, does that include Friday night movie with mom and dad? If you’re not careful you can really tie yourself up in knots. I’m pretty strict with the time that they spend on any of these things but it takes a lot of clock-watching and timer setting to fully enforce it. Thankfully I have a basket that will comfortably hold every remote, phone, and DS or Leapster that I can find. It’s ready and waiting, just for the day that I really need to go to anti-tech level five. And they know that I will. 

I am THAT Meany Mom who does not let her kids play with her smart phone. I hear the gasps. I deliberately have no games on it. Our 7 year old may occasionally flip through my photos, and they’ve watched a movie on it here and there whilst we’ve sat in an airport waiting for a delayed flight to leave. But they don’t need to use it to occupy themselves. I don’t hold to the argument that they are disadvantaged in any way by this. I know of ten year olds who have their very latest touch pad thingamajig which blows my mind. 

Somedays I wish that I could just get rid of it all. I wish that I didn’t have five ways that people could get hold of me. I wish that I could have a verbal conversation during the day with hubby instead of texting, texting. And don’t get me started about bringing the Droid into the bedroom.

Though maybe technology isn't all bad? I could wax lyrical about my state-of-the art washing machine for - ooh - minutes if anyone wants to listen. Now about laundry doing itself. Is there ever going to be an app for that?!