Minivan Moments

When my son was a preschooler, he hated to have his hair cut. He said it physically hurt him. So we let it go for awhile before we finally took him to a barber. He was a big boy for his age, and the barber was decidedly harsher than he should have been when my son flinched and squirmed. I had to reiterate to the barber more than once that my son was still only 3, even though he looked to be over 4 years of age. The barber was frustrated by my son's sensory issues, didn't approve of my parenting, and we didn't go back. When my youngest child was an infant, she didn't sleep well. I co-slept with her until she had her tonsils and adenoids removed at 2 years of age for obstructive sleep apnea, which I wouldn't have caught if I hadn't co-slept. All the while, my fellow mothers criticized me, telling me all the ways I was failing as a mother. When that same child was toddler, I was the mother ignoring a screecher in her buggy at Target, because waiting for her to ...

As busy adults, we can easily resort to communicating via text message. Need to see if someone has a book your child needs to read for school? Text 'em! Want to know if your friend can get together Friday for coffee? Text 'em! Checking in on a friend with the flu? Text 'em! It is great for quick thoughts, simple questions, or making plans to get together. What texting is NOT great for is authentic communication. Too much is lost in print, too much room for things to be misconstrued, and too much temptation to be more harsh than you might be in person. Even the experts on proper communication agree that any serious conversation needs to happen in person. I am not making this up, this is not just my opinion, but I have definitely experienced this and found it to be true. However, it seems our Microwave Society, hooked on the instant gratification of texting and social media messaging for communication, has lost interest in personal communication, in face-to-face relations...