![\"Being](\"https:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Being_There_For_Them.jpg\")
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Today, I did a little experiment. I sat quietly in the corner while my boys played and kept a tally of how many times they looked at me.<\/p>\n
Not for answers. Not for help. Just to see if I was watching.<\/p>\n
Twenty-eight times.<\/p>\n
Twenty-eight times they looked to see if I saw their cool tricks.<\/p>\n
Twenty-eight times they searched my face for approval.<\/p>\n
Twenty-eight times they checked to see if I was proud, if I was listening, if I was there.<\/p>\n
And I couldn\u2019t help but wonder\u2026 what if I had been glued to a screen? What message would I have sent?<\/p>\n
That a notification was more important than them?<\/p>\n
That the World Wide Web mattered more than their world right in front of me?<\/p>\n
Twenty-eight times they would have felt overlooked.<\/p>\n
Twenty-eight times they would have questioned their worth.<\/p>\n
Twenty-eight times they would have learned that who you are online is what really matters.<\/p>\n
But it doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
In a world obsessed with followers, likes, and filtered versions of reality, our kids need us to show them something different. They need us to show up. To put down the phone. To look them in the eyes and remind them: You matter more than any screen ever will.<\/p>\n
Because they\u2019re watching. Always. And the message we send shapes the adults they\u2019ll become.<\/p>\n
So tonight, put it down. Be present. Love out loud.<\/p>\n
[Brandie Wood]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today, I did a little experiment. I sat quietly in the corner while my boys played and kept a tally of how many times they looked at me. Not for answers. Not for help. Just to see if I was watching. Twenty-eight times. Twenty-eight times they looked to see if I saw their cool tricks. … <\/p>\n