Seriously, when she was a young parent did she ignore her kid all around town while chatting on her Blackberry or her iPod or her iPhone all day? She most certainly did not. And another thing--well, technically several:
Count the steps as you go up or down. My twin grandsons' math skills flourished long before they could speak in sentences because they live in a third-floor walk-up. At whatever age your children start talking, let them know you are interested in what they are saying by repeating and expanding upon it and asking them to repeat what they said if at first you do not understand them.Maybe if she'd Tweeted to the mailing list quicker, she could've gotten the stroller back.Ask questions that require a choice, like "Do you want milk or juice?" or "Do you want to walk or ride in the stroller?" (An important aside: Too many city children are transported in strollers well beyond the time they can safely walk and run. Young children need to exercise their bodies as well as their minds. The theft of our stroller when our twins were 19 months old was probably the best thing that happened to them.)
An important aside: Too many New York Times writers are permitted to publish articles with sweeping generalizations and prescriptive advice supported by little to no data or evidence. The realization that a large portion of the "paper of record" could be ignored entirely or used for nothing more than a groan or a laugh at the dinner table was probably the best thing that happened to our family.
I have to say, though, I see parents like this all the time- parents that are on their cell phone the whole time they're at the park with their child, pushing them on the swings, etc. It's really sad. I use my cell phone around my children because it's my only phone, and I do need to communicate with people, and yes, I have to ignore them sometimes when I'm talking to someone (just like when you're on a regular phone), but some people really take it to the extreme. So, as silly as this article seems, I tend to agree.
interesting article, but it's a shame a grown woman can't tell a vagina from a vulva...
We had the occasional "your child is too old for a stroller" nosy granny comment when the kid was between three and four. I'd always politely explain that we were 3 miles from home, don't own a car, and that she was tired from walking all the way to wherever we were.