He thought he’d told the stories about when his father took him and his siblings on camping trips well but when he looked expectantly in the rearview all he saw was his children’s bent heads, each intent on a device.
They had badgered and begged for those devices and as a divorced father who wanted to maintain contact with his children he of course acquiesced and bought them, but contact remained old-fashioned negotiation via his ex’s landline, his old number, and bordered on bribery and coercion; this ended up a costly trip, but he was confident the payoffs would be immeasurable, once the kids got into it.
“Hey, when we get to the campground I have a present for you.” That got their attention.
When they got to the campground he collected all their phones and ipads and locked them in the trunk, then welcomed them to the present.
“Ah, Dad, get real.”
It’s that time again! This week Denise of GirlieOntheEdge gives us the word “pad” to work into a Six Sentence Story. Click on over to read more and to leave your own creation in six sentences. Just six.
Hah! Just what they deserved!
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Just what they need, perhaps.
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Now he has their attention! I hope they remember the trip as something special.
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That is the hope.
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Good for him and them!
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Yep!
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I hope it all works out. It’s a brave action, but will hopefully build relationships once the initial shock is over.
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More folks need to do it more often, just put those things away.
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Exactly!
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Nice one. And I whole-heartedly agree with him. 🙂
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Yep. I wish parents were more careful with screen time. The kids are addicted.
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And I used to worry about my kids and 4 channels of TV.
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Good for them! People see landscapes and high-profile shows only on devices – despite being physically present there.
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Right? Crazy.
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Thought-provoking as usual.
The question is: will it work?
The answer, imo, is to be found in the role of the distractors, i.e. tablets and phones and such. Back in the day, such a scenario can be easily imagined, except the distractors, books and comics and Mad Magazines did not have real people/a real world inside of them. We (back in the day) might have been tempted out of our heads, our imaginations.
The challenge for Mr. Divorced-Dad is far greater. He must tempt the children away from their friends.
Fun Six. yo
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Yes, that is the challenge and the allure of these devices for kids. They think they are in touch but lose touch with themselves through bonding with family and with their surroundings.
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Made me mindful of time passed with dad. Good one and thanks.
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You are welcome.
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I did that to my son when he graduated from high school. I’ve lost it somewhere when I moved, but I had this wonderful photo of him standing beside the van with a very satisfied grin on his face.
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It was a good thing to do.
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Good luck with that…Pandora is way way way out of the box. (K)
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Yep I’m afraid you’re right.
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Excellent 6, D. We live in such a different world with far different challenges for parents than when we were kids. I fully support your main character. Someone needs to step up to remind young people that it’s actual living human beings who are the important components in life! And yet, and yet, you have babies handed little toy ipads to occupy their time. Say good bye to critical thinking, to being able to extract information, interpret information. Everything is provided children now at the click of a mouse or button. Where is the creative challenge in that?!
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Amen sister.
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It’s going to get real, and i hope they find they enjoy it more than they could imagine.
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Exactly.
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Much needed for all of us. We all need to take that detox 🙂
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Yes indeed. (yet here I am…)
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