Zoning Out

This is a subject I have previously written about, yet I find myself so annoyed by it lately that I am writing about it once again. The subject is zoning out. Well, to be more exact, it is the way we are teaching our children to zone out.

Last Friday I was out to dinner with my family when a couple with a child around the age of 3 sat next to us. As they were being seated, the mother promptly took out a portable DVD player from her bag and "set up" her son for dinner. I was so appalled! Perhaps I'm being a bit old fashioned, but what ever happened to the sacred act of eating with the people you love and enjoying their company? We are all so zoned out these days and we are creating a new generation of zoned out kids with their DVD players… at dinner no less, and in a restaurant!

Today I was food shopping and not one, but two different sets of kids were walking around the store with portable video game players. Again... APPALLED! For those who know me well, you know I have a bad Whole Foods habit and I am a bit of a snob about the type of food I buy and let my kids eat. Todd, my husband, is a total foodie and a fabulous cook, so between the two of us not just mealtime is sacred, but the act of picking out the food is sacred too. Maybe I'm crazy, but there is so much for kids to learn in the grocery store; why on earth would you anesthetize the experience by shoving a Game Boy in your child's face?

This is just a sampling of the teachable moments while shopping with your kids:

1. Teach them about the various fruits and vegetables. The difference between organic and conventional, the different names for everything. For young kids: the different colors, sizes, and shapes. For older kids: weight and price per pound. Teach them how to pick out fruit and veggies and then show them you trust them by giving them a produce bag and letting them get to work.

2. Food groups. Get familiar with the government mandated "food groups". Talk about the importance of the various groups with younger children and have them monitor how “balanced” the cart is.

3. Add as you go. Let your child keep a running tab on what is being bought. If you have more than one child with you, let it be a competition to see who comes closest without going over. This is great mental math.

4. Take notice of patterns and store layout. Ever wonder why the fruits and veggies are the first thing you shop for in some supermarkets, with the heavy laundry detergent, etc. being the last? Let your kids come up with a more logical layout for the store, so that when you are shopping, the fruits and veggies don't look so sad by the time you check out.

Is it possible that we are so zoned out as parents that it is just easier to keep our kids in the same place? I suggest that life is too short and our children too important to let precious moments pass us by with the ether of a television screen occupying our time.

Talk to your kids at dinner. Ask them how their day was. Let them hear you and your significant other talking to each other. Debate politics, policies, and ideas. Discuss books, movies, art and philosophy. Take time to listen. In the absence of a DVD playing, your children might actually have something interesting to say. Don't miss it! Don't zone out! Don't let them zone out!