Are your family holidays trapped in technology?

As you know, last weekend Belle and I went away for the weekend, just the two of us. I think one of the reasons that Belle enjoyed it so much was that there was no wifi in the caravan, and we only had a GPRS signal across the whole park. This meant that she had my undivided attention, something which probably doesn’t happen as often as it should, or certainly as often as she would like.

On the Saturday we went for an outing to Woolacombe, and as we drove back through Barnstaple, my phone started pinging as the 4G kicked in. In the car park at Marks and Spencer, I took the opportunity to catch up on a bit of tweeting and photo sharing.

“I am going to take ten minutes,” I told Belle, sat in the car, having just spent about a million pounds on tasty M&S treats for us, “to pop up a few pictures from the holiday.”

The change in her was instant. She immediately looked away, out of the window, her jaw set in deliberate annoyance. I was pretty annoyed myself.

“Please don’t get cross about it,” I told her. “The whole reason we are able to come away together this weekend is because I am blogging and tweeting about it. I just need ten minutes to share a few photos, that’s not much to ask is it, in return for a lovely holiday?”

She didn’t look convinced.

I don’t actually think ten minutes is unreasonable, but I can also see that for Belle it’s probably not about that particular ten minutes. A lot of the fun things we get to do as a family are because of this blog, and although we all appreciate the opportunities, I imagine that for other members of the party the constant presence of my smart phone must get a little tiring. Belle wanted me totally to herself that weekend, and my phone was there, playing gooseberry yet again.

What I must get better at, and I’m sure it’s something we’re all guilty of, if switching of my phone when I don’t really need it. When you’re away on a family holiday, do you ever look around the room and see each individual family member lost in their own world? Do you rely on Google and sat nav to direct your holiday fun? Do you miss out on the opportunity to connect with each other and discover new and surprising things because your head in buried in a tablet?

If you’re not sure, there is a quiz, put together by CenterParcs. (It’s internet based though obviously, so don’t do it while you’re on holiday.)

I did it once and got an OK result, and then I did it again, this time telling the truth about question five:

technology addiction quiz

 

Once I confessed to a tendency to take pictures of my dinner for Instagram, my result was slightly more worrying. Apparently my family holidays are officially ‘trapped in technology’, Opps.

technology addiction quiz

 

According to CenterParcs though, I’m definitely not alone, as you can see from their funky infographic. Why not take the quiz and let me know of your family holidays are as trapped in technology as mine?

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4 Comments

  1. 10 September, 2015 / 12:47 pm

    This is indeed a very funky infographic

    Look, I have the exact same problem as you do. Other half sees the top half of my head behind my laptop most evenings but the reality is that a LOT of the things we do are paid for because of my online earnings. We are going to Florida in a few weeks and that entire trip is paid for from Matched Betting alone!

    People can’t have it both ways, it’s probably hard for a child to understand that (sorry I don’t know how old she is) but the reality is that everything you buy her or take her to costs money and that doesn’t fall from the Sky and earning online./ from home is not 9-5 Mon-Fri. It’s all day everyday, as you don’t want to miss out on an opportunity that might go elsewhere.

    .

    • Jo Middleton
      Author
      10 September, 2015 / 1:22 pm

      That’s the dilemma ultimately isn’t it? Would she rather be on the holiday and have me tweet a bit or sit and home and not get to go on adventures? (I do appreciate that you can have adventures on a budget too, but it is nice to have a little bit of money to spend…)

      • 10 September, 2015 / 1:45 pm

        Aye, spot on

        We either sit at home and I do this or we do this at a nice beach where there are things you can do

        The work isn’t going to go away so there needs to be a certain level of acceptance on her part. I’ve read your blog for the better part of the year now even though I have ZERO interest in parenting blogs, I like to read about your adventures and things that you are trialling out. I’m sure your daughter benefits from those things too.

        Riddle me this – would she be happy if you worked 9-5 Mon-Fri and were never there when she came home from school?

        Swings and Roundabouts…

        #jonsparentinghandbook

        • Jo Middleton
          Author
          10 September, 2015 / 5:38 pm

          Well quite – she would get far less of my attention if I was in some office somewhere!

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