Friday's Kind Words: Beautiful, Gentle Technology
First, thank you so much for creating a beautiful, gentle technology that has had such a positive impact on our lives.
My husband and I knew we were not going to expose our son to TV, movie, apps, video games, etc. We are his parents so no screen time means no screen time, right? Well, not quite.
We were extremely ignorant of how screens had taken over the world. Although we do not allow our son to have any screen time, he has been exposed at both sides of the family’s homes, friend’s homes, restaurants, at the doctor’s office, at the dentist’s office, at the barber's, and let’s not forget the ever-present phone being shoved in his face from well-meaning adults to view pictures or funny apps that change his face, etc. I had no idea how pervasive technology was.
So, my son gets very little exposure but he has been exposed and even a few minutes of TV creates issues at home. He likes TV more than anyone I have known and asks to watch TV (even though we don’t own one) every day.
That is, until we found Sparkle Stories. HE LOVES SPARKLE STORIES and so do I. I listen with him (except when he wakes at 4 a.m., then he listens in bed with me while I sleep, haha), and because I, too, am familiar with the stories I am often able to use the stories as teaching moments when a similar situation arises in our home. Recently my son lied to me about something and I was able to recall and retell the story of Sylvia lying about breaking Martin’s invention. It really helped in the situation.
Also, I have taken so many excellent ideas and implemented them into my own home. Although I am a gentle parent, I am not a crunchy mom. I wear makeup, get my nails done, go through the Starbucks drive-thru, love Facebook, snapchat and Instagram when my son is asleep. etc. — but Sparkle Stories has really helped me change and slow down. My son is four years old and has spent more time outside since we started Sparkle Stories than the rest of his life combined.
So, thank you for what you do and the lessons for both the children and the adults.
Erin from California
