Katie McGervey

I wanted to add a comment about that article and disconnecting while on
vacation. I was disappointed when I read it that he didn't really address
the main issue, which is that when we are on vacation it can be good to
disconnect from our daily lives. It really has nothing to do with the
technology. He used technology to enhance his connectedness with his
family. However, he missed a rich opportunity to discuss, his temptations
to check his email while he was looking up stories and history and star
charts. Therein lies the rub and he skipped over the difficult part.

This is the part that I struggle with every day ­ not getting sucked into
the computer to the detriment of interaction with my kids. As I ponder my
upcoming vacation, I ponder whether to take my laptop or not ­ can I use
technology to enhance our time together or will I use it to escape the
connection with my family.

Katie




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Sandra Dodd

-=- when I read it that he didn't really address
the main issue, which is that when we are on vacation it can be good to
disconnect from our daily lives.-=-

That's subjective, though. What you think is the main issue, or what can be good, might not have suited his vacation at all. Some people's vacations have directly to do with hobbies or conferences or work-related things.

-=- I ponder whether to take my laptop or not ­ can I use
technology to enhance our time together or will I use it to escape the
connection with my family.-=-

What about a book? A cellphone? Hotel room with a TV?

I've kept a computer with me almost all the time, when I've been out of town, because that's the way I talk to my kids, to my husband. It's the way I could still sell books even though I was not home where the books were. Keith and Holly sent them.

Try not to think of it as an all or nothing situation.


Sandra

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BRIAN POLIKOWSKY

If you see it as a choice and not "being sucked up" by technology maybe it will help you.
I can sit here all day if I choose to or I can get up and go connect with my children.
See it as a choice you make every moment.
My son is into games and his computer ( youtube  and other stuff) but when we go somewhere fun for him
he has no trouble letting go of it. He even has an Iphone ( used as an Ipod touch ) that he got for his birthday
and I have always taken it for him when we go somewhere and he has seldom used it.
I do love to read on my computer so I have started downloading  books ( are they still called book on tape?) to my Iphone and

I can go all day listening to them and doing stuff like mowing, gardening, cleaning, laundry.
It really helps me. They are also easy to stop when using the headphones.
I have taken my laptop to getaways and I do have an Iphone and I find that I  use them  a little and only to check stuff quick.
|It has always been an asset and never something that stopped me from enjoying  where I was.

 
Alex Polikowsky
 
 
 


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plaidpanties666

Katie McGervey <kmcgervey@...> wrote:
>I was disappointed when I read it that he didn't really address
> the main issue, which is that when we are on vacation it can be good to
> disconnect from our daily lives.

Sometimes it can, although especially when Mo was younger it helped to bring a lot of her "daily life" along when we were travelling, and work in plenty of time for her to do her normal sort of everyday things - like watch as much tv as she wanted. On vacation, she's more likely to spend most of a day "just" watching tv, as a way to decompress from travelling or visiting.

> This is the part that I struggle with every day ­ not getting sucked into
> the computer to the detriment of interaction with my kids.

It might help to set a timer. I keep an eye on the time when I'm online, especially if I end up doing a lot of writing because otherwise I don't have a good sense of how long I've been on.

---Meredith