It depends. I spend so much time with my beat friend that we don't always have things to talk about. Sometimes we get coffee and just sit around and read or look at shit on our phones.
Tbh I wouldn't mind my kids looking at their phones.. what does it matter if the games they play are analog or digital? I'm talking about the sitting in the restaurant kind of situation, where kids usually draw, read or do other stuff to entertain themselves.
Yeah but if your kids are young they see you every day, so.. it's different if you don't see each other often.
And my example was more meant for people who argue that they are fine with kids drawing when you're out for food (which most younger kids do), but are annoyed when they use a phone to play.
That's a subjective thing I would say. Many people on here would agree that playing a game can also turn into a conversation. If my kids were to play Pokemon or Zelda for example, I could engage with it quite well. It just depends if you know the franchise/culture, making it easier to resonate with.
And tbh I didn't particularly enjoy my family looking at my drawings when I was younger, cause I didn't wanna get a comment about it.
I get the sentiment, but I have adhd and even with meds, it is sometimes a struggle to pay attention to someone, and I need something extra to do while holding a conversation at times. I need to have something to do with my hands so it's a quiet phone or some clicking toy or pen, so take your pick.
I find doodling to be a good addition, especially if I'm having lunch with fellow doodlers
Because not only does it keep my hands busy so I stop bouncing my legs but it can also feed into conversations as well (once has lunch with a fellow doodler who we sketched stuff behind each other, it was really fun)
I have autism and probably ADHD, eating without something else to stimulate me is absolute misery and if you tell me to put away my phone i'm going to start avoiding eating with you.