Notice

So something really hit me this week and I wonder how many of my friends face the same thing so I thought I'd write about it. This week I came home from work and went about the evening as I do every night. About 4 hours or so after I was home, Casey finally asked me how I like his face. Those of you who know him know that he has a goatee. Now that he's a stay-at-home Dad his goatee can often times get a bit scraggly as it isn't so important for him to look groomed for the kids. Anyway, I really like it when he trims it down and shows a bit more of his face. I looked up from my book and saw that he had done just that, trimmed it down, and it looked great. It dawned on me that he had to have done it earlier that morning in the shower. I had seen that day for lunch and had been sitting no farther than 10 feet from him for over five hours and had not even noticed. It startled me a bit.

It's made me think how often do we go through life not noticing. Not seeing what is right in front of us. Case and I, like many couples with children, are often distracted. Added to the normal responsibilities, one of us is always in school in the evenings so we often pass by each other without much interaction. We are working on this. Still the fact that I obviously had not even looked at his face really bothered me. I remember when we were young how I could sit for hours and just stare into his big blue eyes. It's not that I have time to do that anymore, but you would like I would at least notice his face.

Last night it was the same type of thing. I came home from work. Case left for school. CJ was taking a nap. Ceirnan and I were playing when I suddenly remembered I needed to get on the computer to check on a work e-mail. Next thing I know I've spent over 20 min. looking at e-mail, checking Facebook, paying an online bill, and not being present. I wasted almost 20 min of time while Ceirnan crawled around. Oh, I looked up to make sure she was okay, but I really didn't see her. It made me sad to think about. I closed the computer and have vowed to stop...just stop...take notice...be present.

Technology Generation

Aah...technology. We all use it. We all love it. At least most of us do. I know I am certainly not the most technology driven person, but I use a fair bit of it each day. Why am I bring this up? Well, I'm a bit scared about where all this technology is taken us. As a college instructor, I am constantly reminding my students to put their phones away or watching them clearly spending time IMing on their computers while I am trying to teach. As a law school student, I saw the complete panic some of the younger students (I was about 10 years older than most of them) had when a professor simply stated no computers allowed in this class. I always found it interesting, but now finding that balance has become crucial to me.

CJ has become the technology wizard. He loves it. He sends text messages every night to his Nana. He could spend all day on the computer if we let him. We don't even have to help him. He knows how to use the mouse and flip back and forth around pbskids.org and sproutonline.com faster than I do. He loves it. On one hand, I figure it's better than TV because at least he's interacting and is playing educational games. He likes the games dealing with numbers and math the best. It's truly amazing to watch him click and navigate the web like it's second nature to him. On the other hand, I don't want him to become so addicted to those games that things like Chutes and Ladders are no longer fun. Don't get me wrong. He has a brilliant imagination, but I do worry that he'll lose that ability if he spends so much time on a something that can create things for him. Ceirnan is in on the act too. She has definitely figured out the importance of the cell phone and is always trying to play with the buttons. She loves the remote control too. I'm sure she'll follow right in her brother's footsteps.

I know the simple answer for now is to limit all of his screen time (TV and Computer), but I definitely wonder what a difference it will make in his life as we move forward.