Technology

by Julie Chen Allen

I used to rag on Moms who sat their kids in front of the screen. As karma (or irony, if you prefer) would have it, I became one of those Moms myself. Sort of.

Sometimes the thing that seem common are often the most amazing. A winter sunset over the Austin Hills. The birth of a child. The child's first steps and their first words. A spider web in the sunrise sunlight that is coated with a morning dew. All of these things are extremely common, but under the right circumstances they are the most profound, beautiful and amazing.

This week has been a collection of close calls.

by Julie Chen Allen

I admit, when I encounter a parenting dilemma, I often don’t call my mom. I don’t run to the library or reach for my dusty child development books. I don’t pull up my DVR-ed episodes of Nanny 911, or even call the pediatrician. And sometimes, I don’t even turn to my spouse.

When I am truly at a loss for parenting solutions, I turn to the Google search engine. Welcome to my parenting style: Google-parenting.

These days, I’ll just type in any combination of my feelings…my kids hate me!…and

I’m too old to use a telephone.

This occurred to me over the weekend, when I purchased one of those newfangled touch-screen phones that do everything but wash your dishes. Although they may do that, too — but I’ll never know because I can’t figure the thing out.

My husband went with me to get the phone. This wasn’t because I was incapable of choosing a phone —I had already picked out the model— but rather because I lapse into a drooling trance when I have to listen to someone wax poetic about technology. For me, technology is a tool, not an orgasmic experience. My husband, on the other hand, embraces the witty repartee of the techno geek, so he tagged along to play good cop to my admittedly bad one. Or, as it turned out, to watch the kids while I was wooed.

In light of the season being a fully "transparent" season where we share with family and friends ... sometimes sharing too much. Where we tell stories with our children and with one another.

A few nights ago, while flipping channels in a hopeless attempt to find something to watch while ironing (yeah, I actually do iron), I stumbled across the most bizarre thing: an educational program for babies.