Back to a time....

 In celebration of our oldest, Kaylea, graduating from Safety Town today, I took her and her friend to their choice restaurant...McDonald's.  I realize this instantly provides a wide variety of parents/children.  There are those who show up at 12 p.m. in their p.j.'s ready to feed their children a delightful breakfast of chicken nuggets and fries, those who need to burn off some energy before nap time, and those who were begged from kids on hands and knees to go "just this once, pretty please!"  We began the normal routine, "eat before you play, I'll open the toy AFTER you finish your lunch, go UP the stairs, DOWN the slide..."  but there was one precious girl who ruled the house. Not even 3 yet, she immediately came up to our table and told me to move, she was sitting there. With a smile on my face I pointed to a table across the room and said she may go sit in THAT empty chair.  Her mom grabbed her hand and drug her over there as she plotted to terrorize the next victim, only that victim was me, again.  The girls left their toys sitting on the table and as this precious angel shoved a whole nugget in her mouth she snatched that toy and blurted out "mine" and walked away. I kindly told her that was not hers and to please return it to me.  Her mom looked up from her phone and demanded she give it back, then looked back to her phone. This story continues for 10 minutes as the girl continues shoving food in her mouth and stomping her way to the top of the playground.  Twice she sat at the end of the slide not allowing anyone to pass through. She had 7 kids bigger than her hijacked in the slide, yelling for her to move! I looked around at every parent in that room and EVERY SINGLE ONE was playing on his/her phone, unaware that their children were yelling for help.  I removed the little girl twice by talking to her and the third time broke the camel's back. In fear of having police come after me for touching a child who wasn't mine, I picked that girl up out of the slide and told her that she wasn't playing nice and she needed to go somewhere else. I literally had an argument with this child for 5 minutes before her mother looked up from her phone and came to get her!

  I'll be the first to admit I'm on my phone entirely way too much.  And maybe that was just what this was...a reminder to focus on my children rather than the events of 452 friends on facebook.  Either way I couldn't help but wish it were a time where phones weren't so functional.  A time when we actually focused on the day, praying we wouldn't forget, rather than yanking out the camera phone; stopping our children in their tracks to get a picture that probably won't turn out.  My children take notice of when they are doing something exceptional and tell me to take a picture. How embarrassing :(  I am notorious for always having my camera and taking lots of pictures to get that perfect shot, but for my children to tell me they're being cute so I better take a pic, ugh. I've failed.  Such a hard reminder today to put the technology away and "be" with my kids.
  Speaking of, they've been on my lap and at my feet for the last 2 paragraphs...I better go "be".  :)