I think it’s great I can order Pampers, new Havaianas, and the latest NY Times bestseller with one click but is it making me a better person? In this brave new world just how self-consumed will my kids be? Our days are jam-packed with the fake… okay, let’s call it the contrived stuff. Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram. All of it. So, here’s a written reminder (while we still use the alphabet) before I get too consumed by it all and forget that I can eat something that looks yummy without standing on a chair to snap a photo of it.
Hi there, my little puzzle pieces,
You are growing up in a different day and age. I’m a bit worried you’ll miss some of the best parts I enjoyed in my childhood. I want you to appreciate and know about technology, sure, but I don’t want you to be so teched out that you miss the “real.”
Here are a few things to avoid. And a few wishes, per se. A few things I’d love you guys to enjoy along your path:
- Breathe in deep and savor the smell of crayons.
- Scratch ‘scratch and sniff’ stickers until the tip of your finger is numb and your nasal passages sting with ‘Root beer’ and ‘Barnyard.’
- I wonder how much time you will spend indoors versus running around outside.
- Will you have an active enough imagination to imagine things that could be and just aren’t yet?
- Are you ever going to daydream or will every free minute be reserved for your iPhone, iPad, and iPod?iPhucking hate that small ‘i.’
- Please don’t let, “My battery’s low” be your first sentence.
- Will you live your life through social media and forget what I’ve been telling you your entire life, “That the mess and cracks are where the magic lies”? Live the mess. You don’t have to record it.
- Gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free… marshmallow-free cotton candy-free. Enough is enough with the “free-ness” unless there is something being given out without payment!
- Having a profession is not a bad thing and don’t be intimidated by all the “creatives,” “entrepreneurs,” and “coders” around you. Being a doctor should still be just as cool.
- Music can have words and it by the same token can be classified as music without words. No “should” should be uttered regarding the musicality and tonality of it all. Just please listen to it all and then decide. Oh, and profanity doesn’t necessarily make it cool. (Or uncool.)
- Please don’t love Disney Collector and Cookie Swirl C more than me. I’m your mom.
- Could we iCalendar an actual conversation from time to time?
- Will you even have the attention span to read this whole list???
Oh, dear little puzzle pieces. Please remember to look outside. Smile and make eye contact. Remember that human beings don’t speak in chipmunk-high-octave voices, or have huge eyes and sticks for bodies. But you may just develop all of that if you don’t turn off that screen!
About the author:
Writer, blogger at www.sarasadik.com and mom to almost 3. Pass the double espresso. Sara Sadik believes in finding the magic and humor in any situation. She’s on a mission to make you laugh, breathe, and know you’re not alone in this unpredictable odyssey through mommyhood… poop and all! A Huffington Post blogger and contributing writer for Sassy Mama Dubai, Sara Sadik also interviews mamas with a hiccup (because every mama has a unique story to share). Her forthcoming humorous parenting book on pregnancy and mommyhood shows commonalities for modern moms-in-the-making across the globe, from Delaware to Dublin to Dubai (where she lives) where vomit is caught in hands, lullabies are sung and mother-in-laws get the smile-and-nod treatment.
