Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Distractors


My son and I took a long walk yesterday. We had a great 90-minute conversation about… everything. While that in itself makes me happier than words can express… the coolest part about it was that we did it totally ‘disconnected’. In other words, we both left our cell phones and iPods at home.

It was a good old-fashioned Father-Son experience. Recently, most of our father-Son moments have included multiple types of distractions (phones, text messages, e-mails, television and/or iPods). “That’s very interesting, Dad. Hold on while I respond to this text message!” “I’m sorry, what did you just ask?” (I was listening to the best part of this song from the ear phone stuck in my ear.)

Distractors! Can’t live with them… don’t want to live without them. What is standing between you and having meaningful conversations with the ones you love?

1 comment:

Ted Kinzer said...

Stephen,

Great post. I would recommend that we communicate that we will be walking or whatever the activity is disconnected. My wife and I have started walking and sometimes we talk and other times we talk, text, or listen to our iPods.

A few weeks ago, I was wanting to spend the time talking to her, but she ended up on the phone most of the time. Unfortunately I left my cell phone and other 'distractors' at home. I should have let her know, and then we both could decide whether we left our toys at home or not.

Remember... if you have an expectations, say it.

Thanks,
Ted
Twitter: @tedkinzer