Back On-Line: and the Dangers Thereof

Wednesday

Well I miss the internet. I was really trying to embrace being disconnected—enjoying the true cabin-feel in this home. But now I really miss it. I miss writing to you all, I miss being fingers away from information, news, weather. I have been trying to keep up with my writing even without internet which is why you will be getting these last two posts at the same time, but it makes me feel anxious to not actually be updating three times a week like I’m used to doing.

I haven’t been terribly successful at the writing this week. These two posts are all I’ve done. I want to be working on my short story but ignoring half un-packed boxes is even more difficult than ignoring half packed boxes and it’s hard to feel creative when you can’t locate a toothbrush, the dish detergent, or a clean pair of underwear. I’ve been busy.

So I have been disconnected since Friday now. Of course I do have my blackberry and I was trying to rely solely on that to at least keep up with emails and a bit of news and information scavenging. Then I made the mistake of mentioning to my good friend Vanessa that we probably will not have a landline in this house and will be relying entirely on our cell phones.

So an hour later I get this article from her about the dangers of cell phone use in pregnancy. I read the title: Cell Phone Use in Pregnancy Linked to Behavioral Disorders, and then began the typical routine I repeat every time Vanessa sends me a new tidbit of groundbreaking research: I grimaced and growled and stomped around the house kicking empty boxes (usually I kick whatever junk is on the floor). The second part of the routine is generally where I sit down and read the article and have my parenting routine, my diet or my ideology changed before I read the last line. This is how I have given up fluoride in my toothpaste, began eating full-fat dairy again, stopped using plastics, and have even begun considering EC for young infants.

But my cell phone: how dare you? These fetuses today, it’s not enough that I’m giving up alcohol, caffeine, sugar, deli meat, unpasteurized cheese and Advil, no, she wants my cell phone too. What’s next my laptop? Because that is, of course, where my mind went next: what could possibly be in a cell phone that’s not in a wireless laptop? Maybe I should just move to a cave and wrap myself in burlap and eat only organic grubs and apples until the baby is born.

The article made some good points and openly admitted that women who have used cell phones should not feel panicked about their children, many women who have used cell phones when pregnant have not noticed any behavioral issues with their children, and more research still needs to be done. But it’s rather compelling. Cell phone use seems to increase a child’s likelihood of having a behavioral disorder twofold (similar to the risks of smoking while pregnant but not quite as high as the three fold risk of drinking while pregnant). I’m not sure if this article makes me want to give up my cell phone or take up smoking.

I mean who can really tell if it was mommy using a cell phone when she was pregnant, the cigarettes she smoked, that glass of wine she had at Christmas time, or the over-exposure to television that we start the minute a child is out of the womb, or the sugar-loaded, processed foods that are marketed fiercely to children and toddlers. Or maybe it’s just good old fashioned environmental pollutants. Really it could be anything couldn’t it?

But I’ll link the article here for your perusal; of course once you have the information, you’re responsible for it so proceed with caution.

It’s good to be talking with you again by the way!