Please interact with your kids, not your i-whatsit!

[oldgrandmama]

It's depressing - seeing mums with babies and toddlers in buggies, or toddlers toddling beside them, but what is mum doing? Studying her i-thingie or whatever is the latest gizmo in her hand.

Being ancient and of the opinion that mobile phones were originally just for making and receiving calls and texts, I honestly don't know what the hell she's looking at. Games? The Footsie? Emails? Online book? Surfing the web? Porn? All I know is that there's a little person that she's not interacting with in any way. No doubt this post will bring down the full wrath of Mumsnet on my head but honestly, small kids NEED interaction with their mothers or carers, not to be ignored because it's apparently more important to study some gizmo. Is it really SO important to never take your eyes of the damn thing that you pay your little one no attention whatsoever.

OK - bring on the condemnation. I have broad shoulders!

Nah, you're entirely right OP.

I'm a terrible mother. You see, while DS is bfing, I should be gazing into his little eyes with tenderness, stroking his beautiful hair, or tickling his little podgy feet. Not texting on my phone, reading facebook, checking my emails or any of the zillion other selfish things I could be doing.

Tell you what, why don't you come and spend 24 hours with DS and I? Then you could watch as I play with him, feed him, entertain him while I'm in the shower, take him out to the park, build towers and knock them down, read to him, bathe him, change his nappy, keep him happy while I wash up and so on.

But most importantly, as I check my phone, you can tut in disgust and tell me off for neglecting the "little person" I'm "not interacting with in any way."
Let me know when you're free.

Would it occur to you they may be checking a text?

Bloody cheek. I have Android, which is way cooler. HTH

OP I do get your point, and there will always be crap parents around but in most cases a lot of the interaction takes place at home surely? Outdoors is when you let kids run around amusing themselves? Of course you don't ignore them completely but let them have a mixture of play and interaction.

In the 70s a lot of mothers would be at home and had other mums in their street to chat to - husbands at work but neighbours to have a 2 minute natter with when they took baby/toddler/child for a walk and plenty of "go and play and be a good girl while I speak to aunty Whoever from number 42'.

Some mums are isolated and need a break from their little one and do that by having a quick chat via text or a look at the internet while toddler has a run about or sitting on a bus. Please don't put more pressure on mums to be full-time entertainer/teacher/servant to their children.

you know what, I am actually so glad Mumsnet and the internet were not around when mine were small, as I fear I would have never been off it...I mean all those forums, pregnancy, birth, babies, feeding, sleeping etc!
The most I had was baby and parenting magazines and the odd pregnancy book from the library.