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About Children Growing Up Fast & Technology

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This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Skype. All opinions are 100% mine.

My husband and I were early adopters of Skype. At first it was simply the cool factor: I could see my mother and she could see me. Neat.

Then I watched this video…

…and, almost a decade later, it hit me like a ton of bricks: Skype isn’t just cool. Skype is a mode of survival. Skype keeps me sane. Skype keeps me grounded.

“The further from one another, the nearer one can be.”
― August Strindberg, The Road to Damascus

We’re a family of four. I stay at home with my two sons. All of our family lives hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away. I have two siblings. My twin sister lives in LA, my brother lives in the Bay Area and I live in Seattle. My mother? Well, she lives in Maine. All of us live in our respective areas somewhat by choice – my sister’s residency at UCLA, my brother’s MBA program at Haas and my husband’s job at Amazon. Although difficult on some days, we can live with this choice because we also choose to embrace all the goodness and richness of life that technology has to offer our family in our respective locations.

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As a young parent living thousands of miles away from family, Skype mitigates the loneliness and the helplessness a new parent sometimes feels. There is something about seeing someone’s face and their body language that brings comfort and relief. My best friend from home didn’t have to miss the look on my face when she told me that she was pregnant with “our” first baby. She lives in Maine. I live in Seattle but we shared that moment, together. In short, Skype has brought me closer to family and to friends, and, honestly to the rest of the world!

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More presently, Skype has brought my children closer to their grandparents. Skype has helped me maintain vital relationships required in my life to enable me and my family to survive and thrive as human beings. I know that sounds dramatic but think about it for a minute and you will feel it too. I am inspired and motivated and more curious than ever to explore the world because there is one less factor to consider in my decisions: losing touch with my family is not an option.

Here are a few things to think about…

Storytelling

Growing up I had critical life-defining relationships with my grandparents. They told me stories. They read me stories. They gave me comfort. When I became pregnant with my first child nearly five years ago I was scared and I was lonely. I needed my mother and I knew my boys would need their grandmother.

Mama Needs a Break

So we have made it work with daily calls and weekly story times. My mother relieves me when I need a few minutes by talking with my boys, hearing their stories and asking their questions.

Growing Up

As this video addresses, children grow up quickly and change even faster. Day by day, week by week, month by month. Skype connects us to a family that needs to be a part of that growing up.

skype_storytime

I chose to live far from my family. Skype makes that choice an easier one to swallow. Technology is an invasive part of our lives and it isn’t going away. Join the implosion and make the impact positive.  Embrace all the goodness that technology has to offer us families and our children. Skype is one of the greatest examples. Take a moment to watch this Skype video about Julia and her cousin’s relationship. 

How do you use Skype in your home, parenting, teaching or classroom? Let me know by leaving me a comment.  Your comments make my day! Thank you for reading this post today. I hope that we inspired you.

Marnie

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