"I was scrolling through family photos on my computer, admiring my two beautiful babies, when I spotted a disturbing trend: My laptop was open in almost all of the pictures. There's my daughter, at 8 months, playing at my feet while I typed away on the couch. There's me and my son, a year later, with the laptop at my side as I held him in my arms," writes Rachel in a recent Babytalk article.
Well, we noticed the same thing recently in our own photos.
Apparently, new moms are especially susceptible to Internet addiction. The isolation of being a new mom leads many moms to look online for community, escape, and a way to express themselves and connect with others. It also helps them to rediscover the identity they may feel they've lost. With all the things you can do online, you can check things off your to-do list and feel productive when everything else in your life seems chaotic.
We are definitely recognizing some of our own patterns in here! When you do you think you're crossing the line? Find the complete article here.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Yep! Another addicted mom of 2 here. However, it's really not surprising. Here's a list of things I can do online:
Look up any problem/illness my children might have.
Check my kids grades at the school's website.
Communicate with my kid's teachers/school.
Get ideas for home decor.
Do most of my large-purchase shopping.
Read up on the news.
Communicate with my husband on IM while he is at work.
There's not much us "moms" can't do online. It's no wonder our lives are now built around the net.
view AprilAries's profile
nursin' the babe, what else are ya gonna do? :)
view kelli co.'s profile
...and add to it that we moved halfway across the world and I was not always able to go out and meet people/make new friends, well...
view mschatelaine's profile
I'm in denial.
view racheloncegentry's profile
I'm willing to acknowledge that I would be utterly lost without the internet.
view Loki Parker's profile
I used to be really bad, about being glued to my computer. Now I am just working more :(
I am at work from 7:30 to 5 most days, and I get home around 5:30, sometimes 6 b/c traffic is horrible. Then, we eat dinner, then have a bath, and play a little, and then he goes to bed. I stay up too late most nights doing nothing but sitting at the computer on the internet.
view That Heather Girl's profile
Hate to admit it but some of my friends that are just married are addicted to the internet and I fear that they will be on ALL the time around their children. I usually am on in the evenings- maybe a couple of hours a day. But I know this will change when I have my little one in a couple of weeks.
Blogs and twitter are taking over!!!
view ohnoitskristin's profile
They make it sound like it's a bad thing...........
view annie t's profile
I consider myself pretty addicted (I just gasped b/c my laptop is dying and the charger's at work and I hadn't checked Ohdeedoh yet), but I definitely try to limit it around my girl. I may spend a few minutes on it during the day, but the bulk of my time is after she has gone to bed. Or at stoplights on the iphone.
view ksg's profile
OMG Ksg...me too (stoplights on iPhone). I know its bad. But it feels so good.
view complainypants's profile
I probably do spend too much time online when my kids are around, but much of it is doing stuff that needs to be done. I'd prefer to do my banking while they eat lunch than drag them to the bank. After lunch we can go to the park instead of the bank.
Also, as a sahm whose husband works out of town there are many days that go by that if I didn't have the net I wouldn't get any adult interaction.
view Angus's profile
i managed to spend most of my maternity leave with my newborn sleeping on my chest like a frog, while i had a laptop and was creating my husband's website and chatting with friends. i prefer to think of it as 'multi-tasking'
view bbt's profile