A quick glance at your smartphone, and suddenly twenty minutes have passed. Does that sound familiar? In today's digital world, the smartphone is a constant companion for many people. Most take it with them everywhere as soon as they leave the house. The first phone calls start early in the morning, we scroll through messages at the bus stop, and on the way to kindergarten, a parent quickly answers a question in a group chat. At the doctor's office, during a work break, or at lunch with friends, the same picture appears everywhere, and at home, it often just continues. We lose ourselves in a flood of content, post photos, read messages, and check emails. Screen time quickly adds up to more than two hours a day. Yet we rarely question this behavior. Instead, many parents complain about stress and lack of time. They feel overwhelmed as they try to balance work, household, and family every day. The constant sensory overload from digital devices further reinforces this feeling. Digital minimalism offers a way out of this flood of information. It's not about giving up the smartphone, because that's hardly realistic today. Rather, it means putting the screen aside when playing with our children, not answering messages immediately, or scheduling fixed times in everyday life without digital distractions. Less smartphone use gives us the opportunity to reflect in peace on the challenges of everyday life and to make the day less stressful for ourselves and our family.

Imagine you're out with a friend, but instead of talking to you, they are constantly looking at their cell phone. How does that make you feel? Ignored, annoyed, or maybe even frustrated? This is exactly how children feel when their parents are physically present but mentally more engaged with their phone. While the child is talking on the way to the playground, the parents only respond with an absent ›Mhm‹ because their eyes are glued to the screen. Or they keep interrupting the conversation to answer a message or quickly scroll through social media. What does it mean for children when their parents are repeatedly mentally absent? There are good reasons to put the phone aside for extended periods when around babies and young children. In the first years of life, a child's brain forms an exceptionally high number of neural connections. These develop through closeness, shared experiences, and regular communication with caregivers. Babies recognize through facial expressions, tone of voice, touch, and eye contact that their parents are paying attention to them, helping them feel secure. Toddlers and preschoolers explore their surroundings through play, language, and shared activities with their parents. In the process, they experience affection and security, which provide them with emotional safety. But when adults are often busy with their phones instead of focusing on their child, parental attention suffers. As a result, children become accustomed to problematic screen use from an early age, whether television, tablets, or later their own smartphone, as they primarily orient themselves towards their surroundings. Additionally, they often react with defiance, feeling that the smartphone is more important to their parents than they are. Thus, a generation is growing up that lives mainly in the digital world and struggles to build close interpersonal relationships. To change this, it is never too late to rethink your own media behavior. Even small steps can make a big difference: shared activities such as reading aloud or playing without digital distractions encourage mindful togetherness. Ultimately, we decide which path our family takes. Is the digital world replacing our everyday life, or are we showing our children what truly matters in life?