Here’s a slightly awkward question to bring up at your next family dinner: would you be here if your parents had smartphones?
Not because they would have swiped left on each other. Although, let’s be honest, your dad’s profile picture might have involved a fish.
We mean after they met. If every quiet moment had been filled with notifications, videos, and “just one more scroll,” would they have noticed each other quite so much?
Once upon a time, being bored together had possibilities
Picture an evening with no streaming menu to negotiate, no group chat demanding attention, and no tiny screen offering a thousand alternatives to the person sitting beside you.
There might have been music. A conversation that wandered nowhere in particular. A look that lasted a little longer than necessary.
We’ll leave the rest of that story to your parents. Preferably without asking for details.
“Come here” has some serious competition
Today, romance has to compete with weather alerts, work emails, and a video of a raccoon washing a grape. The raccoon is adorable. That’s part of the problem.
We can sit inches apart while our attention is miles away. One person says, “Look at this.” The other says, “Hang on.” Suddenly, the evening has disappeared into two separate feeds.
Phones aren’t villains. They help us find each other, send ridiculous little love notes, and say “I’m thinking of you” from far away. But sometimes the person we’re thinking of is right there, waiting for us to look up.
You don’t need a grand romantic gesture
You don’t have to book a weekend away or turn dinner into a candlelit production. Start smaller.
Put your phones out of reach. Find something sweet. Sit close enough that sharing feels natural.
Ask a question you haven’t asked in a while. Not “Did you pay the bill?” Something like, “What do you remember about our first date?” Or, if you’re feeling brave, “What did you really think of my haircut?”
Then listen. Even if the answer about the haircut is upsetting.
One dessert. Two spoons. No scrolling.
That’s the little moment Cuddle Spoons are made for: character-shaped dessert spoons for sharing something sweet, then nesting together as a keepsake.
A bowl of ice cream becomes an excuse to sit together. The last bite becomes a negotiation. Washing up can wait another minute.
They’re a playful gift for your favorite person, and a gentle reminder that being together is different from simply being in the same room.
So, would you be here?
There’s no way to know. And this probably isn’t a question you need your parents to investigate on your behalf.
But it’s worth wondering what happens when we give the person beside us the attention we so easily give a screen.
Tonight, put the phones down. Share dessert. See where the conversation goes.
The raccoon video will still be there tomorrow.