Is being a parent boring? Sometimes. Lots of times. And guess what. Those boring moments are what you will miss the most once your children are grown. Carpool is when you should be hanging on every word. Walks are when the world unfolds at a child's feet, in the safety of your company. The parent is the genius who gives names to things and encourages a child's attention to detail on the path. The tiny accretion of daily routines is dull and divine. Of course there's always plenty of time for a phone call, or 10 of them. Children are always slowly walking, slowly eating, slowly looking, slowly reading, slowly going nowhere, until suddenly they're gone.
And giving the kids their own phones in the name of fair play doesn't cut it. That's happening all too often; families are together, but each person is in her own bubble of technology. Some of us worry about radiation and the developing brain. But we should be worried about disconnectedness and the developing mind.
One day, sooner than you realize, you will be with your child, wanting to talk. But she'll be too busy. Talking to someone who isn't there. And why not? You weren't there when she was.
【重点单词及短语】
swing set (组合)秋千
pull on 拉;穿;戴
act out 把…表演出来;把…付诸行动
divine adj. 神圣的;非凡的;天赐的;极好的
Question time:
1. Does the author urge parents to get rid of cell phones completely?
2. Can you summarize the damages of parents' using of cell phones according to the passage?