Little boy reading

Nurses General Nursing

Published

The 7 year old son of a patient was so utterly adorable today. He sat, with legs dangling, reading a chapter book while Mom got worked up for her symptoms.

I loved seeing this youngster not on a tablet or phone. I enthusiastically complimented his wonderful mother. What a special son she has. She said she grew up in a family without a lot of money, and she and her siblings spent much time outdoors. She wants her children to have these old fashioned values.

The lad is beloved by his teachers and wants to be a scientist.

Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).

My Dad spent his childhood living on a farm where they moved from in 1938. The year after they moved from the farm, electricity was installed.

My Dad use tell us kids, "When I was your age, we didn't have electricity. I had to watch TV by candlelight".

Specializes in Neuroscience.

My 11 year old wants an iphone for Christmas, which all his friends own and has been strictly forbidden by me. I told him that, and he responded "I'll just buy one when I have a job at 16".

"It'll be pretty difficult to get to that job without a ride or a car, both of which will not be offered if you have a smart phone".

Too many people are addicted to them, and my generation remembers sharing the phone, party lines, and the mortification of having your mother answer the phone when it was your boyfriend. We didn't even have a cell phone available to us when we got in the car, the horror.

More power to the mother with the cute reading son. Good for her!

Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.
My Dad spent his childhood living on a farm where they moved from in 1938. The year after they moved from the farm, electricity was installed.

My Dad use tell us kids, "When I was your age, we didn't have electricity. I had to watch TV by candlelight".

The acorn doesn't fall far from the tree!

Specializes in Travel, Home Health, Med-Surg.
My 11 year old wants an iphone for Christmas, which all his friends own and has been strictly forbidden by me. I told him that, and he responded "I'll just buy one when I have a job at 16".

"It'll be pretty difficult to get to that job without a ride or a car, both of which will not be offered if you have a smart phone".

Too many people are addicted to them, and my generation remembers sharing the phone, party lines, and the mortification of having your mother answer the phone when it was your boyfriend. We didn't even have a cell phone available to us when we got in the car, the horror.

More power to the mother with the cute reading son. Good for her!

And don't forget no privacy on that call with your boyfriend (after mom answered the phone) because it was attached to the wall (no where to run or hide)!

Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
The acorn doesn't fall far from the tree!

Yeah...

When I was about 21 years old, my Dad said to me, "When I was your age, I was so poor that I couldn't pay attention!"

It was about that time I saw my first car phone. Some Guy in a big green Cadillac was driving through downtown Anomaly and was talking on a phone with a cord going down into the compartment between the seats.

"Wow", I thought, " That Guy is so rich, I bet he can pay attention!"

I love these threads, everyone complains about "the kids these days."

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers." - Socrates

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.
Kids on tablets and phones are usually watching cartoons not reading books. My post had nothing to do with ebooks vs bound books.

Gosh I wish there had been e-books when I was a kid! I was [and am] a book worm, to the extent that my annual family vacation luggage allowance was usually taken up with the books I just had to take with me. The ability to take thousands of books in one little device would have saved packing a heavy suitcase full of almost nothing but books and saved my mom from frequent loads of laundry to wash the few clothing items I managed to pack around the books.

Gosh I wish there had been e-books when I was a kid! I was [and am] a book worm, to the extent that my annual family vacation luggage allowance was usually taken up with the books I just had to take with me. The ability to take thousands of books in one little device would have saved packing a heavy suitcase full of almost nothing but books and saved my mom from frequent loads of laundry to wash the few clothing items I managed to pack around the books.

And that is the reason I even have one. When I was a kid it wasn't unusual for us to bring more than a dozen books each on trips and there were three of us. My parents are voracious readers so they always made room. Plus I don't have room to store them in my little house.

Back to the OP. I, too, find it charming when I see children enjoying the more simple things. I don't see it so much as being anti-tech and I don't think that was a fair fudgement of Emergent.

I don't believe that the author mentioned an e-book.

Point is, you don't know WHAT someone is doing on their iPad. Damned if you do, damned if you don't as a parent out in public.

Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.
Point is, you don't know WHAT someone is doing on their iPad. Damned if you do, damned if you don't as a parent out in public.

I was trying to triage a 3 year old, and handed his tablet whatever to his mom twice, so I could actually get to him, she snatched it out of my hand the 2nd time and gave it back, and told me off for thinking I had a right to touch the dingdang thing. He couldn't look up for the time it would take just to watch his chest for breathing, etc., with his hands clutched on the device and body curled around it. What the samhill are you here for then?

As to ebooks, I have over a thousand titles..... my youngest daughter and I went to India for 9 week,s and there was no way we could begin to take enough books with us! We have shared an account for 8 years now. I can be reading 2 or 3 books at a time and have all of them with me, {{bliss}}

My grandson with FAS (adoption happened after more than 2 years, YAY!) is addicted to screens. The one he gets to use? simple ereader with lots of books. The things he tells me about are amazing. But he still loves his bound books too.

I was trying to triage a 3 year old, and handed his tablet whatever to his mom twice, so I could actually get to him, she snatched it out of my hand the 2nd time and gave it back, and told me off for thinking I had a right to touch the dingdang thing. He couldn't look up for the time it would take just to watch his chest for breathing, etc., with his hands clutched on the device and body curled around it. What the samhill are you here for then?

As to ebooks, I have over a thousand titles..... my youngest daughter and I went to India for 9 week,s and there was no way we could begin to take enough books with us! We have shared an account for 8 years now. I can be reading 2 or 3 books at a time and have all of them with me, {{bliss}}

My grandson with FAS (adoption happened after more than 2 years, YAY!) is addicted to screens. The one he gets to use? simple ereader with lots of books. The things he tells me about are amazing. But he still loves his bound books too.

Lucky you. I have always struggled to find something a 3yo would be interested in to take their minds off of the assessment so that I could conduct an assessment. Distraction and all that.

General rule of thumb is that small children do not do well sitting and staring at a healthcare professional. Either they focus on their issue so the pain or issue is enhanced or they get the freaked out. Not sure why the child focusing on something other than his medical issue would be a concern that could not be worked around.

Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.

Glad to see I'm not the only person who raised a kid to behave in public. Who wants to spend time with a brat???

My son got many compliments (and even some free desserts!) in restaurants, simply because of his polite and appropriate behavior. He was ordering his own food at 3yo, saying, "please" and "thank you" to the server, etc., looking them in the eyes and speaking loudly and clearly so they could understand.

I took it for granted that a child would be taught things like this, but when he started dating his then-15yo GF, she was too afraid to order her own food, and he had to teach her how.

And lawd almighty, thank goodness for e-readers! Praise and Hallelujah to the inventor of that necessary gadget!!!

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