Everyday Science and Technology

"Daddy. Talk to me, not your phone." One ordinary evening, a nine-year-old girl put her hand over her father's screen and said the words every parent dreads. He wasn't doing anything wrong. He just wasn't there. If that moment feels familiar, this book is for you. Families everywhere are sitting in the same room but living in different worlds. Parents scroll through dinner. Children disappear into tablets and headphones. Conversations shrink to "fine," "nothing," and "in a minute." Nobody decided it should be this way. It just happened. The problem isn't only our children's screens. It's ours too. Research shows that nearly half of teenagers say a parent is distracted by their phone when they try to talk, while fewer than a third of parents think so. In one recent study, more parents than children used a device during their last family meal. Talk to Me, Not Your Phone is a warm, practical, judgement-free guide to closing that gap. Instead of lectures and guilt, it gives you a clear 30-day plan that starts with the grown-ups and brings the whole family along. Inside, you'll discover how to: • See the gap between how present you think you are and how your children actually experience you • Understand the hook: why apps are designed to be hard to put down, and why willpower alone doesn't work • Put your own phone down first with a simple 3-day phone audit • Write a Family Tech Covenant: one page, created together, and signed by everyone, parents included • Create sacred spaces: phone-free tables, cars, bedrooms, and bedtimes that actually stick • Handle pushback from toddlers, teenagers, partners, and grandparents without turning home into a battlefield • Ask better questions that open children up, and tell the family stories that make them resilient • Fill the space with play, rituals, and shared work that's genuinely better than a screen • Prepare your children for their first phone, social media, gaming, and AI companions, one stage at a time • Bounce back when life gets busy and old habits creep back in Also included: • A day-by-day 30-Day Family Plan • A ready-to-copy Family Tech Covenant template • 100 conversation starters for young children, tweens, teens, and the whole family • An age-by-age device guide from toddlers to 18 Grounded in research on child development, attention, and family relationships, and filled with real-life stories and word-for-word scripts, this book will help you raise children who feel heard, and build a home where people come first and screens come second. Your children won't remember the screen time rules. They'll remember whether you looked up. Scroll up and get your copy today, and start tonight.