Could moms who blog and tweet neglecting their children? This is the question everyone is asking since a Florida mom tweeted for prayer while her son was fighting for his life. According to the timeline as reported by the Huffington Post, she was also tweeting around the time that her son could have been drowning. For a bit of background information, this mom also has an very popular blog followed by over 5000 people.
As her last post says, those who do not have the facts should not be reporting on the story should not… so I will stop there. Instead, I will ask the question everyone seems to want to know. Are moms who blog and tweet and spend lots of time online neglecting their kids?
Or, perhaps I should ask a different question… Since I have been a heavy internet user of the internet ever since I left the workforce to spend more time with my kids, does that make me a neglectful mom?
Of course, I don’t think I neglected my children. When they were little, I of course used the internet less. I did most of my internet writing and surfing early in the morning to prepare my mind for the day, and sometimes I also used the internet late at night. As my kids got older and became more independent, I began blogging and writing during the day, but even then the computer was always where I could see them. When I started homeschooling my kids, the amount of writing I did dropped a bit for a few years until my kids were truly independent workers. My time on the internet has gradually increased over the years and now I spend a great deal of time online writing and tweeting. This of course is my business. I am a work at home mom. My kids are also teenagers at this point.
Any wise person will know that you can’t just assume that all moms who tweet and blog are neglecting their children. Many do their work (yes, I consider it work)in the same room with their kids and as the kids get older, they do it within earshot of the kids. Others schedule their computer time around their kids schedule.
As this is the very first incident of this type to hit the news, It is definitely as shocking as it is sad. The mom will certainly be vilified, and maybe some parents will re-evaluate what they are doing themselves.
~If you liked this you should also read my other posts at the home blog, the homeschooling blog, the parents blog, and the frugal blog. You can read my recent posts here.
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