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Comment by abscondment | Hacker News Reader

If time and attention really are the determining factors, maybe we parents should just chuck our smartphones and tablets for the first 5 years.

I'm only partly joking. I ditched my iPhone after my 2-year-old started saying, "Dadda, put your phone down! Come play!". It's relegated to my office now.

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On a recent road trip I showed my toddler how to watch model train videos on my iPhone through YouTube. Big mistake! he wants to use the phone more than me now. I think it's because he can choose another train video after one finishes. He became the master of his own domain. My phone is now locked in the office as well :)

In fact, if one has sufficient savings and has no worries about career, quitting the full-time job also makes a lot of time/energy for the kids. That's pretty drastic, but I'd consider it myself in the future.

I've just spent two years bringing up my daughter (and iPhone apps on the side at night), whilst my wife works.

Highly recommended, if you can swing it, at least once.

Now, how to get back in the work-force...

You can go back as a consultant for ios development.

If only I had the social skills!

Yeah, hopefully something will turn up. I'm actually not that bad. I worked in an consulting shop for 4 years and commuted across the US every week.

A middle road is working from home on your own startup/bootstrapped company, or even just freelance work. You might forgo income and career advancement, but you may just reap the rewards of more success with your children.

I'm not suggesting you're falling for this mistake but working from home does not equal being a stay-at-home parent.

If you're concentrating on a startup or freelance work then you're not giving your kids your attention. It's not enough to be there, it's better than not being there but don't fool yourself that you're bringing them up just because you're in the same building more often.

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