Why I’ll Never Own an Apple Watch
Or why social media and mom guilt don’t mix
I have a Garmin 235 that I rarely use. I occasionally wear it to gauge just how inactive I am when I don’t force myself to go on a walk or go to the gym. Imagine my relief when, after months of sitting, dead, inside our junk drawer, my three-year-old found it and thought it was the best thing ever. Awesome! Not only was I free to ponder the lack of steps I complete in blissful ignorance, but my three-year-old now had a new toy to occupy most of his attention. Win-win.
The real benefit of this watch is that it has none of the bells, apps, and whistles of the Apple Watch or anything else with a screen that sends my kid into screen-time oblivion. It can simply map a walk or run, measure your heart rate, and count your daily steps. Plus, all the buttons make beep noises and one makes the screen light up, so it’s my kid’s dream toy. All this makes me feel less guilty letting him wear and use it because I know it’s not sucking him into a black hole of mindless screen staring.
It’s not just the three-year-old in our house who is susceptible to the screen. Yes, I am a guilt-ridden, social media-addicted mom. I try my best not to browse Instagram or check Snapchat while I’m around my kids, but now that I have a newborn (my third kiddo and first girl), I find it so easy to…
