It wasn't a special dinner or a fancy restaurant, just the three of us having a meal together before going to an event. After we ordered, as is our custom, I pulled out a pack of UNO cards and asked my husband and son if they wanted to play. They (as usual) said yes; we had several rounds of fun beating each other before the food came.
But I was terribly distracted during the game. I was distracted because at the table diagonal from us was a family of five (a mom, dad, and three children) and all of them were using devices. The light from the screens in the dark restaurant was lighting up their faces...and none of them were talking to each other.
The father did stop the server at one point and had a lengthy conversation with her about how he couldn't get onto the Wi-Fi network, but that was really the only person-to-person interaction. When their food came, most of them kept staring at their screens while they ate.
I am not perfect about keeping my device away from me when I don't need it. But, I would like to think that I do a good job of making sure that our family interacts with each other during the times we are together.
I thought a lot about that family as we drove away from the restaurant, and how maybe they had a long day together already and just needed a break, or maybe they spend all their dinners that way or maybe how their devices are so ingrained in their lives that they now have a fear of being away from their smartphones (here's a link with a quiz you can take if that sounds true for you.)
But then I thought about how grateful I am to have my guys with me, who are happy just playing UNO until the meal comes. And maybe, just maybe, another family is watching us at dinner and gets inspired to turn their devices off next time they go out.
What's a way you try to make your family dinners more fun? Share with me in the comments.
No comments:
Post a Comment