Kia ora friends,
Some months ago, I submitted abstracts to present my work at the forthcoming World Association for Infant Mental Health conference in beautiful Toronto.
When I was accepted to present I promptly registered, finding that the special deal for accommodation had already filled up. Mild panic, pushed to the side. Part of the reason for my enthusiasm is the proximity of Toronto to some dear friends of ours in Ontario. At the last WAIMH congress, the fam traveled with me to Dublin. This felt like an opportunity for something similar, post PhD. We could all gallivant with the pals and I would rub shoulders with all the other baby nerds!
But y’know what? It’s HELLA expensive to do anything like this. For us to travel as a family? Jeez. It would mess some things up.
So I investigated going to Canada alone (which I did once before! Ten years ago! And I wrote about that HERE) and even if I traveled toute seule I’d have been lucky to see change out of $7K. FRIENDS: That is A LOT of money. Money I would rather spend here, in Te Waipounamu.
My mission is old school: “think global, act local” and I couldn’t justify the expense. Seven thousand dollars looks like gifting a handful of Baby Lounges to rural communities. It looks like being able to afford to give talks away when worthy groups can’t afford to pay the going rate.
Having dithered about for ages (will I? Won’t I go? Should I? Pros, cons: all that.) I made a decision and set myself free. Because decisions set us free. Whatever we decide! The very act of deciding!
And, yeah, sadly … not going.
I’ve lost the opportunity to schmooze with my peers, to hear the latest thinking in Infant-land, and the opportunity to share my research. Darn it. I’ve also lost half the registration fee (BUMMER) … but I’ve gained a week or two in October, to be able to keep going with my future-focused work … and i’m no longer angst-ridden about it. Win.
Besides, I have the IPA conference to look forward to!
Now, how about some links to make ya think?
This is a wonderful bit of research, talking about eye contact and language learning and holding implications a-plenty for parental phone use and caregiver technoference, and here is an interesting study published just last month … “Based on the research findings, it is recommended that digital screen time at home be limited, children’s unsupervised device use be monitored, and joint social activities that enhance parent-child interaction be planned instead of digital activities to protect and strengthen family bonds.”
UM … yup.
Little bit of satire to finish, and I’d better get to work!