The day I fear I’ll miss a milestone because I’ll be too busy on my phone

Whether catching up on news, replying to an email or mindlessly scrolling though our many social media accounts, we are all guilty of being on our phones when we probably shouldn’t be.

 

And yes, I am guilty of it too. Most definitely.

 

However, in my defence, I really do try to put the phone away, especially when I am watching my little girl playing sports or learning something new.

 

This is mainly due to my future guilt that one day my daughter will desperately try to get my attention but I’ll be too busy, neck bent, flipping through Facebook to notice.

 

Recently, I was looking around at the parents “watching” their children take part in their swimming lesson and was saddened by what I actually saw. Everyone, apart from a handful, had their head down, flicking through their phone while their son or daughter was learning something new and growing up.

 

One particular person was sitting in the only good viewing spot in the gallery – if you have a child in swimming you will be all too aware of how few and far between good seats are - and only every now and again did they put their phone away to look up at their youngster. While others strained their neck to see the progress their child was making, they continued to be oblivious to their surroundings.

 

And while we, as mums, need to give each other support not judge, this is a sad sight that needs to be rectified. 

 

Unfortunately, it’s not just at the swimming pool where this happens. When we think about it most of us are never really without our phones or leave them too far away. Often what little family time we have is interrupted by a quick check of the phone – you know, just incase we miss something really important...

 

We are all too aware of just how quick our kids grow up; even now it’s hard to remember what my little girl was like when she was a baby.

 

Time literally goes by in the blink of an eye and I for one don’t want to miss a thing. 

 

Mary Byrne is a staff writer at MummyPages and mum to a horse-crazy, sports-mad, seven-year-old girl.