Smartphone Parenting… Is It Really that Smart?!?
Brace yourselves! Here comes another Rants and Raves. Unfortunately, as some of you already know, there are many more Rants than Raves! That said, be forewarned that this Rant has absolutely NOTHING to do with Cozy Mystery books OR even mystery books.
First of all, I have chosen a cell phone that it isn’t quite as smart as I am. Granted, I can’t remember all nine of the phone numbers I have programmed into it, but I still consider myself smarter than my antiquated, flip-open phone since I am the one who programmed those nine speed-dial numbers. I have a computer at home that I use to get information, and I have a cell phone I use to call people. That’s how I have opted to live.
Getting back to my Smartphone Rant…
My husband and I go out to lunch at least once a week. Since he retired, we have decided that the weekdays are much better for us >>> We never have to wait for a table, and the service is generally much better when the restaurants aren’t busy.
Lately we have noticed that more and more of the other diners are sitting with a friend or two, but they all have their Smartphones out. (You will probably notice that I’m capitalizing the word Smartphone. There’s a reason for that. I think their owners think of them as proper nouns, rather than common nouns!) It appears that a lot of people have such busy lives that they have to “take care of business” while lunching with coworkers/friends. Since they all have their Smartphones to keep them occupied, it must be OK with all of them.
Since it appears to be OK with all of these adults that we see playing with their Smartphones while supposedly out enjoying a meal together, I’m not going to Rant about that. HOWEVER, and here it comes, I am going to RANT about something we are noticing when we go out to lunch on the weekends with our son: Parents who are occupied with their Smartphones while their children are present. What’s with that!?!
Last weekend, we took our son to lunch and I had a great vantage point of the room. I actually watched one little girl “enjoying” her lunch outing with her mother, who of course, had some very busy business to attend to on her Smartphone. OK, granted, I am not a busy mother of a little eight year old, but would I really spend my entire meal ignoring my child in favor of cruising around on my Smartphone? At one point, the little girl lay on her chair (on her stomach) which was the one time I saw the mother have any interaction with her… and that interaction consisted of briefly getting mad at her daughter and telling her to behave, and then … right back to her important business on her Smartphone.
At another table, I saw a boy who looked like he was about eleven left to do the restaurant’s little “keep children busy coloring paper” at the table while the parents were busy with their own things. Mom was on her Smartphone, and Dad was listening to something on his MP3 player. What a lovely family outing! (Hint to eleven year old boy>>> next time you’re going out for a family meal take a book OR your own Smartphone so you can join in the family activities!) This sort of Smartphone Parenting seems to be a thing of the norm. (I’m only writing about two cases, but I have witnessed many.)
I now see this same Smartphone Parenting at places like the grocery store, the zoo, on nature walks, while families are in the car, even in an aquarium we visited. Can you believe it? Walking with your children while cruising through your Smartphone?!?
The point I’m making is simple. I am simply amazed to see a lot of young parents who must think their children will always be young and impressionable. I know that at the time you are parenting little ones you think that they will always be there with you. They will always have time to spend with you. They will always want to spend their free time with you.
Just last weekend my husband found an article for me that talks about this very same thing:
U.S. News: When Smartphone Is Near, Parenting May Falter
(I have to admit that they are more neutral to this growing trend than I am. But at least they see there may be a problem.)
My son and husband must be pretty tired of hearing me talk about this while we are out. I try to curb my “just an observation” rants, but I sometimes just can’t contain myself. (I make sure no other people can hear me, so it’s not like I’m openly bringing it to the parents attention. Actually, I’d probably have to learn how to text in order for them to hear my opinion on their Smartphone!)
I wish these very same parents would listen to Harry Chapin singing his song, Cat’s in the Cradle on YouTube:
Enough said!
Three New Cozy Mystery Series Coming in April
I have been updating the site during the last few days and while doing so, I noticed that three new Cozy Mystery series will be released by some of the site’s authors. That’s pretty good news, in my book. It seems like just last year we were all discussing how a lot of authors were being dropped by their publishers, and now there will be three new series. This seems like a bonanza!
J.J. Cook (aka Joyce and Jim Lavene & Ellie Grant) is going to be bringing us the new Biscuit Bowl Food Truck Mystery Series. (The first book in the series is titled Death on Eat Street.) The series will follow Zoe Chase, who has bought herself a diner in Mobile, Alabama. Unfortunately her diner needs a lot of improvements and is located in a somewhat icky part of town. In order to afford all of the diner’s renovations she buys a food truck so that she can make some money. Zoe serves southern fried food, with fried biscuit bowls being her specialty item on her menu.
Sofie Ryan (aka Sofie Kelly) will be starting a new series in April. It’s called the Second Chance Cat Mystery Series. Most of you already know that as Sofie Kelly she writes the Magical Cat Mystery Series. (The Whole Cat and Caboodle is the first book in the Second Chance Cat Mystery Series.) Sarah Grayson owns the Second Chance shop in North Harbor, Maine. It’s a second-hand shop in which Sarah sells items she has refurbished. Sarah is accompanied by Elvis, her big, black rescue/stray cat. Actually it was Elvis who adopted Sarah, and it seems like he made a very wise choice.
I have just put up a new page on the Cozy Mystery site that I will be updating as I find out about our authors’ new mystery series:
New Cozy Mystery Book Series
♦To see more Soon to be Released Mysteries, click on this link.♦
♦To return to the Cozy Mystery site, click here♦
Tace Baker, Dawn Eastman, Edith Maxwell, Cate Price, Christine Wenger, & Annie’s Quilted Mystery Series : New Authors on the Cozy Mystery Site
I have just put some new authors/pages up on the Cozy Mystery site. Let’s see, there is a new mystery series which comes to us from the people at Annie’s Crafts Company, and there are also five new Cozy Mystery authors. Well, technically there are only four authors, but one of them has a pseudonym, so the person is only one, but her “authors names” count as two.
writes the Family Fortune Mystery Series. Clyde Fortune is an ex-policewoman who returns to the family business. Clyde’s mother is a tarot card reader and her Aunt Vi is a pet psychic. They own the Crystal Haven in Michigan.
(aka Tace Baker) is an ex-farmer of an organic farm and has her Ph.D. in Linguistics. She writes the Local Foods Mystery Series which is set in Massachusetts. Cam Flaherty is her sleuth, and she is an organic farmer as well.
Tace Baker (aka Edith Maxwell) writes the Speaking of Mystery Mystery Series. The main character is Lauren Rousseau, a Quaker linguistics professor in a small New England college town.
writes the Deadly Notions Mystery Series, which takes place in a quaint town in Pennsylvania. Daisy Buchanan is the sleuth and she manages the Great Notion Sewing & Antiques Shop. As a retired teacher, Daisy can tell who is lying and who isn’t!
has her master’s degrees in both Sociology and Probation and Parole Studies, and is the author of the Comfort Food Mystery Series. Trixie Matkowski is a recent divorcée who manages a diner in a small town in upstate New York.
Annie’s Crafts Company is the publisher responsible for the Annie’s Quilted Mystery Series. This series is going to be like the Annie’s Attic Mystery Series and the Creative Woman Mystery Series in that it will be a series written by several different Cozy Mystery authors. Annie’s Quilted Mystery Series takes place in Mystic Harbor, Massachusetts. This series features the women members of the Nimble Thimbles Quilting Group.
♦To return to the Cozy Mystery site, click on this link.♦
