A couple of weeks ago, I was hanging out with my son. We went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner on this particular Saturday. He was really hungry this time...well that's normal for us both 😆 Our food came out and both of us began to start devouring our food. I really wasn't paying much attention to him during this time. I was just focusing on my food and looking at my phone to be perfectly honest.
I was watching YouTube on my phone, sports highlights or something. All of a sudden, he said, "Dad can you spend time with me and not on your phone?" Immediately I felt bad and I said you know what? Absolutely! Even though if he would have had his iPad he wouldn't have been thinking about me 😂.
I quickly put my phone in my pocket and gave him my undivided attention. I started asking him questions about school, his favorite superheroes, the latest news in 2nd grade and his current crush.
I could tell that it made him really happy for us to just talk over dinner about whatever came to mind. It felt really good to me as well. It was refreshing to not have my phone in my face and for him not to have #Fortnite playing extremely loud. I felt like we connected more this night. His face lit up and whenever that happens my heart is full.
It's so easy to allow electronics to entertain us and to "babysit" our kids, especially working parents that hardly get any rest. I work nights, so I'm often tired when me and my son are hanging out. I know I need to do better with my sleeping patterns in order to have enough energy to engage with my son.
Being present is way more important to your child than material things, so be happy when they want your attention. Before you know it, they won't want to hang out with you as much and it's important to not take that time for granted.
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