Thank you to Tiffani Thiessen (yes, that Tiffani Thiessen!) for reminding us to put our phones down with her new children’s book, YOU’RE MISSING IT!, an awesome new story she wrote with her husband, Brady Smith.
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Zack Morris or AC Slater? No matter which camp you were in, one thing is for certain: Kelly Kapowski was the queen of cool if you grew up in the eighties and nineties.
And guess what?
The real life Kelly Kapowski, Tiffani Thiessen, is even cooler in my book, because she just co-wrote her first kids’ book with her husband, and I ACTUALLY LOVE IT!
Sometimes books resonate more with children than they do with adults. Yet, sometimes it’s the other way around.
When you read a book with your kids and you think about it for days after you put it down for the night, that’s a book that has staying power. (Other books that have staying power for me? Dan Santat’s After the Fall, and Kobi Yamada’s What Do You Do With a Chance).
YOU’RE MISSING IT!, the new children’s book written by Tiffani Thiessen and her husband, Brady Smith, is a book that has stayed with me. Why? Because the book’s vibrant pages and simple text pack a deceptively powerful punch — a vital reminder to put my phone down and lift my eyes up.
YOU’RE MISSING IT! is the story of what happens on a typical day at the park. The flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, animals are scurrying, kids are playing… and the parents are missing it all.
Why aren’t the parents engaged with their children? Take one guess.
They are ON THEIR PHONES.
What on earth will it take to get one boy’s dad to put his phone down and look up at his son? Sometimes, only a child’s unbridled excitement will remind us to take our eyes off our gadgets and look at our kiddos instead.
Phone down, eyes up.
{Gulp.}
I love YOU’RE MISSING IT! and the message it conveys for many reasons, but primarily, this one:
Since reading this book, those three little words run through my head every time I reach for my phone when with I’m with my boys: you’re missing it.
That phrase has become a new part of my world. The words are constantly reverberating in my head and have joined my preexisting life soundtrack also featuring the sounds of Pickle’s basketball hitting the ground as he dribbles incessantly on the patio and Bo singing the Daniel Tiger potty song on repeat.
It’s been a pretty phenomenal reminder for me. And an important one, too.
Why? Because I’m totally addicted to my phone.
I’m admitting it here so that I can hold myself accountable. And YOU’RE MISSING IT! helped me realize that I don’t want to miss any more moments staring at my phone’s glossy screen.
Responding to text messages can wait. Checking my email can wait. Seeing how many people read a particular blog post I write can wait. The books I want to order online can wait. Everything else can wait.
But my sweet little boys? They cannot wait.
My family — my two kiddos — deserve my full attention, and thanks to those three little words, you’re missing it, I’m making a promise to myself to put my phone down.
It’s not easy. I have a full time job, a full time side hustle, and I’m a single parent constantly relying on my cell for school assignments, talking to other parents, reminders about the food I need to bring in for the class assembly, communicating with Bo’s therapists, finding that birthday party address, updating my calendar, quick thoughts I want to remember for the blog, and so on and so on and so on. It’s become challenging to put it down, and my phone has undeniably (and embarrassingly) become a permanent fixture in my hand.
I’m so grateful I read YOU’RE MISSING IT! when I did, when it was becoming harder and harder for me to put away the screen and return to the present. But I’m making movements every day, and I owe it to the mantra in this story.
YOU’RE MISSING IT! is a terrific commentary on the manner in which technology has invaded our lives and stolen tiny moments from our sacred family time — moments that we won’t ever get back. And thanks to this new book, I’m making a promise to myself that I won’t miss anymore.
Two trunks up for this one, friends. And though I think it’s a terrific one for your kids to read, it is even more important for YOU to read.
Phone Down, Eyes Up.
Let’s make a promise to each other that we won’t miss any more moments.
RELATED: We’ve got all the best children’s books for you on Happily Ever Elephants, so be sure to check them out!
Want the book? Get it here! YOU’RE MISSING IT! by Brady Smith and Tiffani Thiessen. HEE received an advanced copy of YOU’RE MISSING IT! from the publisher, however all opinions expressed herein are entirely our own.
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