Be the Parent, PleaseBe the Parent, Please

Screens are seductive. We see it in our toddlers, begging for tablets. We see it in our pre-teens, leading double lives on Tumblr. We see it in ourselves, too, as much of our time gets sucked into news feeds and emails. From a parenting vantage, technology has been the holy grail, allowing us to outsource the unpleasant tasks and give ourselves a break. No clean-up after painting when it's done on a tablet. No complaints of "I'm bored" on a road trip when there's a game-loaded smartphone. No screams when you have to take a call if the kids are absorbed in a screen rather than running around the house. But, as many parents have guessed from their distracted, sedentary, and incessantly anxious-about-what-might-be-going-on-without-them kids, there some things you just can't out-source: you have to be the parent.