Our daughter is 2 and we agreed no phones while we eat. The problem is release days. I'm on call, so my phone sits next to my plate in case an alert comes in, and she has started reaching for it every time it lights up. I'm thinking of a simple watch that only shows work alerts, so the phone can stay in the other room. Has anyone tried this? Did it help, or did it just become another screen on your wrist?
Tried it. The watch buzzed and I looked at it every time, same as the phone 😊 My daughter, who was 10 then, called it "the small phone". It helped a bit, mostly because I couldn't type replies on it.
The point about not being able to reply seems to be the real benefit. Glancing is one thing. Typing a reply at the table is what my son objected to.
or the phone goes on the counter with the sound up. if it rings, you go. if it pings, it waits.
My partner tried the watch. What worked better for us was deciding which alerts need you within that half hour. Most of the 'urgent' ones turned out to be fine waiting 20 minutes.
Did that exercise yesterday with the on-call runbook. On a typical release evening, maybe two kinds of alerts need me within 20 minutes. Still trying the watch, but set up for those two only.
evening production calls here too. phone in my pocket on vibrate is our compromise. my partner hates it less than the phone on the table
Same spot with a one year old. My problem isn't alerts. It's that I "just check" email between bites. A watch wouldn't fix that for me, sadly.
Watch suggestions welcome here too. baby is 6 months and already grabs for my phone at the table 🤷
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