Hello Dear Subscribers,

I really appreciate your patience and staying with me. I haven’t posted since January 23–a short poem about our human potential and our dreams seeking us. I had plans to discuss my thoughts on robots and AI as soon as ChaptGPT arrived on the scene November 30, 2022. With that all the drama, fear, and speculation about AI being or becoming sentient (remember reading about the conversation where an AI urged marriage—to it!). Then in January and February we saw thousands of lay-offs and nary a whisper about one of the significant reasons—that robots were now capable of doing some of this work. Humans no longer needed.

Yes, I had been researching and planning future blog posts, but being human has its limitations—especially the ultimate one that the transhumanists want desperately to flee, and that, of course is death.

On May 12, my beloved husband, David died after a long battle with cancer. I was privileged to care for him; be with him as we both confronted and confirmed life’s impermanence. I am still processing this journey—as you can imagine. I will always feel his loss—as you probably know.

I hope to return with 2x monthly blog posts, starting in September. Sharing this time with him has opened up floodgates of more to say about family life in these technological times. And, of course, I am a much different person now having been reborn in my love’s death. When I start writing again, most likely I will surprise myself at what I say and how I say it. I hope you stay tuned. I value our virtual connection.

I was able to complete a short book this past January. Patterns Over Time: A Research Summary on Screen Time and Healthy Development discusses the negative impact of too much screen time on cognitive, emotional/social well-being from birth-teens, with a synthesis of over 200 research studies over 6 decades. It is available both on Barnes and Noble and Amazon. The e-book version should be available on these sites soon. 

I continue my quest to help parents understand that with best practices to optimize child and teen development, kids grow into capable users of all forms of technology; wise, loving, confident in their own unique creative expressions; clearly, fully human.