Once upon a time, a woman and a man fell in love and had three children. They were a family. It was a simpler time then. A time of hard work and manual processes. A time when good things came to those who were patient enough to wait for them.
Back then, the time was theirs to spend freely, and every day, without fail, this family would come together and share stories. Through these stories, the parents looked to pass on to their children, valuable life lessons. In these moments, they would often repeat many of the same anecdotes that had long ago been told them, inherited from the time of their own childhoods. Stories that spoke to the importance of adversity, hard work Patience. The Power of family.
Like most parents, they wanted nothing more than to see their children grow up to live happy lives. They worried about their children. There was little choice but to hope that all that they worked so hard to instill in their babies would later prove to be a success in their adult lives. Yet, they worried, nonetheless. In spite of how much they loved them, these parents knew they were far from perfect. They didn’t want to fail their babies, and, at times, it was difficult not to feel deep down that they might manage to bungle it all up somehow anyway.
One day, while the woman was outside in the garden tending to her plants, Automation came slithering into her garden and paid her a visit It seemed to have a lot to say to the woman about the simplicity of the life she was leading and pointed out the areas of opportunity in making a case for Automation. It painted a vivid picture for her of the life she could be experiencing instead and with technology’s help. Before long, the woman began to question the quality of the beautiful life she had with her family. She was presented with an opportunity to trade her current life for one that promised to be much easier. An option that would also make her a better parent, raising much smarter children. The possibility of a life filled with more time to do the things she wanted to do because Automation would take much of it off her hands. This new life would come at a much faster pace and for her entire family, boredom would now be a thing of the past, as this trade would permit unlimited access to stimulation and engagement in ways that their basic life simply could not offer.
It took only a moment for the woman to process this information. She began to daydream about the great possibilities. How on earth could she possibly say no!? And with a smile the size of Texas, the woman shook Automation’s hand and invited It into her home.
Meanwhile…
Ask most parents today about how technology has benefitted the life they share with their children, and they will rave about all the ways it has not only enhanced the experience from our vantage point but has also increased the standard, overall, on the kind of children we have the privilege of bringing up. In a heartbeat, we’ll likely tell you about the time saved by automated processes, and the promise technology makes to give that time back to us so we invest it into our families. Not to mention that this particular generation is easily the most promising bunch of any other in the history of child-rearing. Thinking back on the technological limitations of our own childhoods, and with only a slight hesitation, we would say that our children are better because of technology’s contribution. Today, and for future generations, the sky is truly the limit.
Whether or not any of this is true, one thing is certain. Technology will never be qualified to change the aspects of parenting that actually make it hard. The pesky, human qualities about our relationships. A child’s deep, biological need to connect with their parents. Because despite the shortcuts of automation, and the many gaps in our day-to-day lives that technology looks to fill … deep down, the fears remain, don’t they? The worry. Not even the advancements society has seen, nor technology momentum has spared us any of our concerns that we might be failing our babies somehow anyway.
Do you know how a child spells love? T-I-M-E.
Do you know how a child spells love? P-R-E-S-E-N-T.
Unfortunately, our time and our ability to give our children our undivided attention are what was also traded up in the deal we made with technology and the convenience of automation. We gave away the ONLY thing our kids ever really needed from us. And so perhaps, we are failing them after all.