TechnoMama: Wireless Noise-cancelling Headphones
One of my research interests is how mothers use technology to support development (their own and their children’s). Technology, according to Alan Turing Institute researcher and techno feminist scholar Judy Wajcman, has—since the Industrial Revolution—come to be associated with masculinity. Yet all people use technology—tools and processes that help us accomplish tasks. I’m especially intrigued with how mothers use technology because mothers, around the globe, tend to do large amounts of unpaid caregiving and domestic labor, often in addition to paid labor. If any audience needed tools or processes to lighten their loads, it’s your average mom. As I’ve thought about these ideas in relation to my dissertation research, I’ve started contemplating the technologies that improve my life and lessen my workload. So, without further ado, I award the first TechnoMama (invisible and entirely Internet-based) trophy to—da da da dum—WIRELESS NOISE CANCELLING HEADPHONES.
My wireless headphones (from Bose, featured below) have so many uses. They’re comfortable, if a little bulky. They help me multitask (So Much). I will often listen to audiobooks or scholarly articles on my headphones while doing household tasks. Sometimes, when the noise level in my house gets to be a little too much, I pop these bad boys on and it’s like being in a Zen monastery. (Not that I’ve actually ever been in a Zen monastery, but it’s like what I imagine one would be like). The biggest, BIGGEST win for me though is how it helps me get back to sleep at night. Ever since suffering through a three year (plus) stretch of a child who didn’t sleep through the night, I’ve developed a pretty bad habit of waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to get back to sleep (my kid, the stinker, sleeps just fine now). The best solution I’ve come up with is to put on an audiobook—using my wireless headphones of course—to soothe me back to sleep. I also listen to music on them when I’m exercising.
I’m cute. I’m useful. You should buy me.
Pros: Help me multi-task, ignore my loud kids, study, exercise, and fall back asleep at night. (What Tesla has ever done so much for you?)
Cons: They’re bulky, which does make side sleeping and stomach sleeping difficult. The headband isn’t adjustable and, over time, mine has loosened a bit. (Also, these were a gift but, holy heck, I just checked the price and these are kind of expensive. In my opinion, however, sleeping is priceless, so…they’re worth it, as long as you can still afford to buy groceries.) Also, these are awesome, but they’re not magic. If, by some small chance, you sleep with a loud snorer, “sources” tell me that even these amazing headphones won’t be enough. That said, my son is currently jumping up and down on the wooden floors in the room right next to me and I only know that because I heard him…before I put my headphones on.
What technologies help you in your development? Your parenthood journey? What technologies do you think help kids the most? Share your brilliance by leaving a comment below.