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Original poster

Mums neglecting their children by spending too much time on the internet

237 replies

EdieSedgwick · 10/02/2011 08:28

Sorry for the Daily Mail link....

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1355346/Twitter-mothers-spend-hours-blogging-neglect-children.html

Now stop reading this and neglecting that child of yours...

Wink
OP posts:
BaroqueAroundTheClock · 10/02/2011 18:09

of course not HerBeX - how are they supposed to get on the internet when the women are on it all the time Wink Grin

weefriend · 10/02/2011 18:20

I don't neglect my kids to come online, they have ways of getting my attention Grin. Housework on the other hand...

LibraPoppyGirl · 10/02/2011 18:23

Ha ha ha ha - I too only got part way through the article

Did read some of the comments below and just loved this one....

^Why is this aimed at Mums and not Dads? I know plenty of men who are just as guilty. - Betsy, Uk, 10/2/2011 9:50

Betsy, get with it girlfriend ! It is a womans job to raise the children, do the cleaning and cooking etc. It is up to the male to go out and earn his money or collect his dole and the he can do what he wants with his free time after bringing home the money.- John Long, Liverpool, 10/2/2011 10:26

Sorry for the tardy reply John. My Hubby just unchained me from the kitchen sink. He's in a good mood as he just won 2 online FIFA games, so I get an early break from womanly chores. You get with the program boyfriend. When is society going to realise that Dads are as equally important in the raising of children. Now go polish your club, and bang on your hairy chest :p- Fair play Betsy, you took it in good jest ! Hope your husband let you has a few days off now ! lol

Wink
samels001 · 10/02/2011 18:31

Guilty as charged and there's probably some truth in the effect it is having on kids.

mitochondria · 10/02/2011 18:52

I can't ride a bike. I think I'm on the internet too much during the day.

Oh no, hang on, I'm at work.

Does the Daily Mail think that's better, or worse, d'you think?

midnightexpress · 10/02/2011 19:00

Grin at habbibu's literal nanny state. Ugh, can you imagine Mr Gove bearing down on you for some quality hug time?

I can see David and George sitting us on the naughty step and telling us that it is just not asseptable [sic] to want to go to Bounce and Rhyme at a public library.

working9while5 · 10/02/2011 19:12

I am also guilty and deserve to be. I make a concerted effort to get out of the house on my days off as otherwise I can become quite obsessive about being online.

I am a Speech and Language Therapist and I know it impacts upon the time I spend talking to my son at times Blush. I also know that his early years are crucial with reference to language/lay a foundation for future social skills/academics etc.

I still do too much of it if I am in house..

littlemissindecisive · 10/02/2011 19:22

Load of rubbish....if my kids are sitting watching tv, role=playing together, drawing etc and are happy then i am well within my rights to sit on my laptop....i do work, online shopping, banking and mnet and facebook and email blah blah blah. And when they need me i help them.

As someone else said i'm neglecting the housework more than the kids! So sorting washing, cleaning,etc is allowed and not neglecting them Hmm

No different to phoning the bank, reading the paper........a variety of activities is what kids need. An independent play is a very useful and important skill!!!

TheSecondComing · 10/02/2011 20:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BaroqueAroundTheClock · 10/02/2011 20:17

Lets face it if this article had been written 60 years ago it would be have been

"Mums neglecting their children by spending too much time, doing housework, sewing, gardening, reading and making themselves looking beautiful for their husbands return home from work"

[grin[

EmmaBemma · 10/02/2011 21:25

earwig
"'I have to make a point of being careful to restrict online time to evenings when the children are asleep.'

Posted at 10:39AM"

Did you not read my very next post, then...?!

theresapotatoundermysink · 10/02/2011 21:33

The article is clearly a load of bollocks BUT there is some truth in it. I only go onto my laptop in the evening or when my DD is napping, but I'm constantly checking my BB when I'm with her. I really want to work on that addiction.

Like a previous poster I also wonder how some posters/bloggers manage to get on so much during a day.

earwicga · 10/02/2011 21:35

Obviously not emm Blush

Starbear · 10/02/2011 21:42

DuplicitousBitch LOL That's part of the reason I've got a very basic phone. But I was addicted to CB radio when that came out and had to give the set back to my mate as I didn't get dressed all of half ter Blush
I don't neglect my DS but I know I neglect my Real Friends (couldn't bear to type RLF) and don't do any exercise. I know on my days off I spend an hour on here instead of going for a run! Sad & Like now on MN instead of watching 'Not going out' (but this series isn't as good so Hey!)
I'm sorry but I do have images of those prolific posters who write brillant comments, to have arses the size of a house
Blush
I think I should blockl this site but not until Swan gets back me me about our meet-up Grin

Starbear · 10/02/2011 21:47

Oh and I didn't ride a bike until I was 21 years as in our family only boys had bikes AND my brother's bike got stolen twice before I could learn at least on his!
Sorry it's DH's job to teach him to ride a bike (because I'm not that good) and he hasn't got the time well not with rugby & football to go to Angry

CrystalStair · 10/02/2011 21:58

Totally strikes a chord - I could have written that article about myself. I'm glad I read it - it has reminded me to get the hell off inane chatter on MN, FB etc and get real. Only says exactly what I say to myself all the time.

domesticslattern · 10/02/2011 22:00

Oh god, another thing to feel guilty about. DD is 3 and cannot ride a bike. I was not aware I was being judged on that.

Starbear · 10/02/2011 22:06

Still here Blush

working9while5 · 10/02/2011 22:12

It does depend when you're doing it though. I have been guilty of doing it in the middle of the day at home when ds would really benefit from me doing just about anything else that was legal and non-abusive! I agree with the psychologist in the piece that there is a big difference between dc entertaining themselves while you do things like clean or cook or iron (where they can see and make sense of what you do) and doing something that makes little or no sense to them in which your attention is much more "fixed". I know if I was ironing and ds spoke to me, there is no way I would ignore him but I am prone to getting "lost in my own world" online e.g. husband gave me his glasses to put up out of the way while on MN earlier and I didn't even realise he had done so and sat on them! It can be quite hypnotising.

If you have teens or older children in another room it's a bit different...

Liv77 · 10/02/2011 22:24

I don't neglect DS when i'm on the internet as I only go on when he's in bed.
I do however neglect DH (who's not fussed as he gets control of the TV remote) and the housework Grin

BaroqueAroundTheClock · 10/02/2011 22:39

really - my youngest (3) makes no sense of me cleaning or ironing Hmm

If I'm Mning/FBimg/playing games I'm much easier to talk to, and to persuade to get up off the sofa (and to whoever said I must have a huge arse - I don't Wink) than if I'm reading (ok lets not even go there Blush - the world could probably collapse around my ears when I'm reading and I'd not notice), or cleaning, cooking, ironing, or doing something else on the computer that's not being "on the internet" (aka as my "creative stuff"). If I'm doing the latter I HAVE to finish x,y,z (unless it's a dire emergency with blood or broken bones Wink) before I'll sort them out.

Personally I never saw any point of many of the things my parents used to do while igorning me and my brother - and still don't - and that was with no TV or internet.

My house would almost certainly be cleaner (or maybe not - that week without internet or TV didn't finish with me having a clean and tidy house Confused) without it - but I would ignore my children just as much (or as little??? they're when they demand your attention I have little choice) without it.

gaelicsheep · 10/02/2011 22:43

Ha ha. I was breastfeeding her, now she's asleep in my arms. If that's neglect then I'm guilty as charged.

recycledteen · 10/02/2011 22:50

My kids are grown ups and tell me to look up occasionally and acknowledge their presence.

Liv77 · 10/02/2011 22:55

Waves to Baroque - I miss our Apprentice nights Smile

I forgot to add that the main reason I don't go on the internet when DS is around is that if he sees it's on I can't do what I want anyway as he will constantly pester for the CBeebies website

working9while5 · 10/02/2011 23:03

"really - my youngest (3) makes no sense of me cleaning or ironing"

How do you know? At this age, children make sense of a lot of things without it being obvious. You won't be aware of her acquiring and refining grammatical structures or word meanings, but she will be doing so on a daily basis if she is developing along typical lines. You might not be able to tell when it's happening and she certainly won't be able to. She might infer from watching you do ironing that it is pointless but that, in itself, is learning.

Social networking on a laptop is somewhat different because it is an interaction - you probably don't laugh or raise your eyebrows at your washing in quite the same way etc.
You can't type an extended answer to a post and speak/listen at the same time with any degree of quality: that's not how language works. You can do automatic tasks and talk/attend.