Are your kids asking for mobiles to eat food?

This is the eighth episode of the ASK A FRIEND series. In this episode, we discuss the biggest problem for parents. Kids are not eating food without gadgets in hand. You can see that in most restaurants, kids view mobiles and eat food. The same is the case at the house too. If the mobile is not available, then they won’t eat food. That’s why this episode gives your solutions when your kids ask for mobiles to eat food.

Now the trend is that “kids should be taken care of by gadgets and not by parents.”

Simplified Parenting & Emotionally Healthy Child Show

Tune into the podcast episode (either in Telugu or English) on the embedded player here now, or listen to it on any of your favorite podcast platforms. If reading is your forte, scroll down for the show’s transcript.

Podcast in English

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Podcast in Telugu

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Transcript of the Episode “Are your kids asking for mobiles to eat food?”

Hi there, welcome to another brand new episode under the “ASK A FRIEND” Series under the Simplified Parenting & Emotionally Healthy Child show by mommyshravmusings. Today I will discuss another important topic – “Kids and Mobiles.”

It has become a big trend to see kids carrying mobiles wherever they go with their parents. Even the small kids have a smartphone in their hands. If you go to a restaurant, you can observe the children eating with a mobile in hand. In fact, that’s the same case with adults too. Most of them would be browsing through their mobiles, and the conversation at the dinner table would be kept to a bare minimum.  

I was traveling on a train recently, and we shared the berths with a family who has a small baby that might only be around 7-8 months. We were observing that baby’s antics and were enjoying her actions. All she wanted was the company of adults who would spend time with her. So she was pulling her mom’s legs, dad’s hands and trying to get them to play with her. Her parents put the mobile into her hands, watching their mobiles or talking among themselves. The kid is not very keen on watching the mobile but was trying to use it like a toy and was getting bored with that pretty soon.

I am not judging those parents here. But still, this incident stuck with me from that time onwards. We are giving mobiles to our kids to keep them engaged. We are removing the fun of playing with people or even playing outdoors for our kids. We are asking these gadgets to babysit our children and keep them out of our way.

The 70 & 80’s kids can very well understand what I am about to tell. When we were growing up, the good parenting tip that every new parent used to get was that “Kids should only be seen and not heard.” Now the trend is that “kids should be taken care of by gadgets and not by parents.”

Hence we see the current trend of kids eating along with gadgets. Don’t you remember our childhood days, how our parents or grandparents fed us? They used to tell us so many stories, showing nature. Yes, agree it takes time and effort from the parent’s side. But we knew the different tastes and learned a lot of valuable life lessons from those stories. Learned a lot about our families, culture, and a lot.

Now you might ask me how we can stop giving the mobiles to kids, as they don’t eat if we don’t give them the mobiles.

Initially, it would be a tough time; for one or two days, the kids wouldn’t eat. But if we can include them in our discussions and tell them that we will break the habit of using gadgets while eating as a family. Kids learn by observing, so you also keep your gadgets while eating.

Then make the mealtime more enjoyable by sharing about your day, funny stories, and discussions. Initially, the kids would resist sharing, as they are not used to a meaningful conversation to date. But when you do this consistently, then the meal times can become more enjoyable for your family. You can start fun family rituals like playing games while eating, solving riddles, etc. I have written a detailed blog post titled “Break the habit of using gadgets during mealtimes,” and you can refer to it for more details

I hope you liked today’s topic. Please do share your comments.  If you like these episodes, don’t forget to share them with your friends,