TikTok. Tick Tock.
Are we turning into our TikTok obsessed children? Do I, as a writer, have 15 seconds with you, the reader, to grab your attention before you move on to the next headline? I feel it. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Spelled differently, but the pressure is the same. 15 seconds. Max. That’s the attention span I’m finding my 16, 14 and 12 year old daughters to have lately. I witnessed something so odd with them at the mall last week. (Wait, what are you so shocked about? That we actually went to a mall? Or that they went with me? Don’t worry, they approved my outfit first. Anyway, I digress. What’s wrong with me? Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.) We walked into a clothing store that they chose. Walked in being a bit of an exaggeration… they stepped in maybe five feet and turned into these robots doing visual scans. Turn head left and slowly (not too slowly…) let your eyes scan the store until your head almost reaches your right shoulder. “Ok. Done.” Done? You didn’t even see past the first few displays. “We saw enough.” Saw enough? I didn’t see one shirt yet! (Literally. They had all these bras on hangers, but not shirts. Weird.
Ohhhhh…. Never mind. Those were shirts.) Guess that store wasn’t what they expected. Let’s try again. Next store. Same thing. Next store. Same thing. Next store - ooooh. Ten feet in. We like things here. Grab this and that and that and that. Oh, my oldest is about to have success. Finally. Into the fitting room. Clothing item is on. I can tell by the way her feet are barely moving under the gap between the door and the floor. “Want to show me how it looks?” “Nah. It was ugly.” How does she know that it didn’t look good? It was on her body for half a second. Next shirt. Through the door, I think this one might be better. What is she doing in there? Dancing? How does that help her decide if the fit works? I finally get a glimpse of what’s good and what’s not because she values my opinion. Oops. I explained that incorrectly… because she needs help putting things back on the hanger. Same difference. The three girls agree that we finally found a store that wasn’t lame. My credit card confirms this fact.
I don’t mind spending the money on clothes that work for school and I’m really pleased that they actually gave a store half a chance. In their TikTok obsessed lives, this is how their brains function. They “focus” just as long as they need to in order to decide if something is worth it or not. Is this healthy? I don’t think so. Is recognizing the problem as a parent the first step though? I sure hope so. We have to do better for our kids. They need to give things more than a 15 second chance. Online content. Stores. Books.
Sports. Clubs. Hobbies. Songs. People! Let’s work on this. Find a solution. Our children should be able to pay attention to things longer than the contractions we pushed through while we were in labor with them.
About The Writer
Chaos Manager is a super busy, sweet, and talented mom who lives somewhere in the USA. Recruiting for Good loves to sponsor her content; because she is hilarious, and in tune with what is happening to kids everyday.