Between school reminders, dinner plans and the constant mental checklist of family life, modern motherhood often feels like everything happening at once \u2013 but for many mums, it\u2019s small pockets of technology that are quietly helping them stay on top of it all.<\/p>\n
For Phoebe Smith, it\u2019s not about a fully digital lifestyle, but about using the right tools at the right time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe WhatsApp group we have at school has been a bit of a lifeline,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s so much coming through emails and apps, it\u2019s easy to miss things \u2013 then someone reminds you it\u2019s Crazy Sock Day and you\u2019ve completely forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n
While she still prefers to shop in person and keep things fairly traditional at home, Phoebe says tech steps in where it actually helps \u2013 not where it complicates things.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m constantly getting ideas off Instagram for meals,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s great for inspiration during the week when you\u2019re trying to think of what to cook. Obviously online banking is an important one and keeping track of things when you have time to process it all is a big thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Routine, she says, is what keeps everything steady in a busy household. \u201cIf we don\u2019t stick to a routine, everything else falls over a bit,\u201d she explains. \u201cIf we do, the kids sleep better and the week just runs smoother.\u201d<\/p>\n
A shared family calendar \u2013 used alongside a physical one at home \u2013 helps keep everyone aligned, providing the spaces between various events and moments to take a beat.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe send each other requests and it just drops into the diary,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s how we manage pick-ups, sports and events and make sure everything runs on time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her phone, she admits, has become the centre of most daily tasks, like it has for most modern families to stay connected to the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cI use it for everything really \u2013 banking, news, fitness tracking, music,\u201d she says. \u201cIf I\u2019ve got a spare moment, I\u2019ll just get things done on my phone.\u201d <\/p>\n
Even small moments of downtime often turn into productivity. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be in bed at night and realise I\u2019ve forgotten to book gym classes,\u201d she says. \u201cSo I\u2019ll just do it there and then. Or it\u2019s a quiet moment for me to catch up with my news subscriptions.\u201d Still, Phoebe is aware of the balancing act that comes with always being connected, which sometimes comes in the form of a subtle yet important shift.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t always want your kids seeing you on your phone all the time,\u201d she says. \u201cBut it does help with day-to-day functioning.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not about doing more \u2026 It\u2019s about having things organised enough that you can actually breathe a bit in between.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeff Woodhouse, Executive General Manager of Mobile and Computer Technology at Harvey Norman says being organised is a priority for mums \u2013 it reduces household stress \u201cThat\u2019s often what\u2019s at play and can be a real strain for some who feel like things are getting away from them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Be coach, not a ref\u2019: Experts speak on addressing screen time<\/p>\n
Screen time is a modern parenting reality, but for many families, it\u2019s also a daily juggle between sanity, safety and simply getting through the day.<\/p>\n
Experts say the first step is rethinking the way we even talk about it. \u201cThere\u2019s junk food, there\u2019s health food, there\u2019s benign foods \u2026 screen time can be an amalgamation,\u201d explains Kathy Modecki, a Distinguished Professor at the University of Western Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of it is thinking about what they (children) are actually doing online \u2026 you get really different risks and opportunities depending on that.\u201d <\/p>\n
Leading the research into the social media ban for kids, Professor Modecki admits not all screen time is created equal \u2014 and trying to police every minute often isn\u2019t the answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cBe a coach, not a referee \u2026 building communication and trust will go a million miles further,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
That message resonates in Jacqui Layley\u2019s household, where devices are a constant presence when the grandkids come over.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh God, yeah, absolutely \u2026 it was more that kids could entertain themselves,\u201d she says of raising her own children. \u201cNow I find this generation needs to be entertained.\u201d<\/p>\n
With five grandchildren ranging in age, she sees just how quickly screens can take over but combats the tech by keeping them active.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I\u2019ve got the older ones, they\u2019ve got their phone on them constantly so it can become a battle when they want to get on to their devices,\u201d she says. \u201cI took them to the forest to do a tree climb \u2026 try to keep them as active as possible without being stuck in the house.\u201d <\/p>\n
But Ms Layley\u2019s also quick to acknowledge the benefits, particularly when it comes to safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great because you\u2019ve got that technology to keep in touch \u2026 you\u2019ve got your FaceTime and all that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why phones are allowed \u2013 with rules \u2026 they can\u2019t download anything without permission \u2026 it\u2019s all about keeping an eye on them and blocking what\u2019s risky.\u201d<\/p>\n
Professor Modecki says boundaries work best when paired with trust. \u201cIf a kid wants to get around things \u2026 there are all these workarounds,\u201d she says. \u201cWhat we want is understanding and trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tcch to make Mum\u2019s day<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Between school reminders, dinner plans and the constant mental checklist of family life, modern motherhood often feels like…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":655656,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[64,63,317008,317009,317007,316987,316997,144537,316986,316990,316993,66706,21623,90676,316991,317004,317002,316995,316996,317006,316989,317001,316999,23851,316988,100027,317003,13214,317000,316985,316998,7749,317005,317010,316994,105,316992,49283,2343],"class_list":["post-655655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-busy-household","tag-chaotic-family-lives","tag-chaotic-lives","tag-constant-mental-checklist","tag-day-to-day-functioning","tag-digital-lifestyle","tag-dinner-plans","tag-else-falls","tag-family-chaos","tag-family-life","tag-fitness-tracking","tag-harvey-norman","tag-helping-mothers-juggle","tag-household-stress","tag-kids-sleep","tag-modern-families","tag-modern-motherhood","tag-modern-parenting-reality","tag-mothers-juggle-school","tag-mum-phoebe-smith","tag-news-subscriptions","tag-online-banking","tag-quiet-moment","tag-ray-ban","tag-real-strain","tag-right-time","tag-right-tools","tag-sam-kelton","tag-school-reminders","tag-screen-time","tag-shared-family-calendar","tag-spare-moment","tag-tech-steps","tag-technology","tag-technology-helping-mothers","tag-university-of-western-australia","tag-william"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}