The iPhone: love it or hate it?

This past year I have intentionally counted the number of parents I see on smart phones while attending child friendly events.  As you can imagine the percentage is high.  I've personally had a love/hate relationship with my iPhone.  Has anyone else had that struggle?

I got my first smart phone in January 2011.  At that time my boys were 4, 9 and 10.  I quickly realized that my example might not be the best for them.  You know what I mean; a hand held media device that is hard to put down.  It really isn't the best example for a child.  I think that every generation has their challenges, and the one facing my boys is social media and the hand-held instant access to EVERYTHING.

I think that media is amoral; it can be good or bad depending on how you use it.  I LOVE many things about my iPhone yet I've found myself fighting the benefits.  For example, over the past few years I have continued to have excel spreadsheets for our finances, notebooks lying around the house for everything from prayer lists to sticker charts.  I've also had devotional books, cookbooks, Bibles, recipe folders, lists, and lists.  However, I have reached a point where I've decided I needed to embrace my iPhone and the benefits.  I think part of it is getting our house ready to put on the market and the desire to be done with stuff!  There are over a million apps out there for the iPhone.  In the hopes to simplify and have less clutter, I've been embracing my iPhone and using it for almost everything!  I still get on the computer occasionally.  It's definitely easier to type a blog post or long e-mails with a full keyboard, but I do use my blogger app to upload the pictures I want on each post and frequently check e-mail using an app.

I must admit, finally embracing my iPhone and searching for apps that will make my life easier and clutter free has been freeing.  However, I still have the same concerns for my boys.  Here are my tips for dealing with it:

1) I fully recognize that this type of media is NOT going away.  I would do my boys a disservice by not teaching how to manage it.  They will learn from my example.
2) I make sure my boys know what apps I have and why I use them.
3) When I am sitting on my phone and my boys need something I try VERY hard to immediately put the phone down and give them my attention.  Again, they will learn from my example.
4) My middle son used his own money to purchase an iPod.  We took Safari off of it but he does have the YouTube app.  We set the search settings higher so hopefully he won't find really bad stuff.  He also knows we can see his YouTube usage.  We also do not allow him to have it in his bedroom at night, and we've had many conversations about keeping him accountable.
5) I've found helpful apps for my children. Apps that will help their lives (not just games).  Remember, this technology is not going away, and they need to learn to manage it.

Here are some apps I love (pictured above):

Prayer Notes: I love being able to have a prayer list at my fingertips and with me all the time.  I can also mark prayers as answered, and it keeps a record of them!

Grounded: It is so easy to forget who is grounded for how long and for what reason.  This app is awesome!

Bible For Kids: My youngest loves this app and it is a great way to encourage him to read the Bible.

Bible: This app not only has the whole Bible in multiple versions, but many reading and devotional plans.  It sends you reminders and tracks your reading.

iCheckBal: I don't really use app the way it's intended, but it still helps keep us on track with our spending.  I use it to my advantage.

Sticker Charts: My youngest is still motivated by sticker charts and this app is much easier than having a real sticker chart in hand.