As a writer and advocate for long distance coParents, David Goldschmidt was on the lookout for technology that connected him in a fun and meaningful way with his 11-year old son, Jonah.
Goldschmidt, who resides in California, missed his son in Florida following a break-up. They both longed to continue their connection. Disappointed by not being able to connect with him long distance, Goldschmidt invented a crowd-funding platform called Proximity.tech and supporting blog, Offworld Gifts. The platform helps parents afford and purchase technology to connect with their children. The blog explains information and instructions on connecting with technology.
“Thanks to this technology, I can now connect with my son and enjoy father-son time with him long distance,” explained Goldschmidt to KidsBeforeConflict. “In my opinion, the best technology for doing this right now is the Xbox One. My reason for this is because we can both be playing the same Minecraft game together. During the game, I am following him around and we are going on quests together. But the Xbox has a video chat (Skype app) feature that opens a second window, where we can also see and talk to each other. That’s the sweet spot for dads looking for the right tech… seeing, talking and playing!
“This fun and meaningful play is much better than a phone call or Facetime, for me,” he added. “I feel as if I get a lot of fun playing time, while I am on the other side of the country.”
Goldschmidt asks… Do you have a friend who is struggling to connect with their child long distance? Is this child into gaming? Help them out by donating funds to help them purchase an Xbox, so that they can play games together, chat and have fun. Help the coParent stay connected to their child.
Goldschmidt wrote a starter guide, that explains the mission and further information. This can be found at: http://offworld.gifts/father-and-son/. On this site, Goldschmidt wrote, “It’s easy to setup and it can really help alleviate feelings of grief by the parent and feelings of abandonment by their child. The good news… If you have to be a long distance parent then you can be glad the tech for staying connected to your kid has gotten a lot better.”
Editor’s note: As always, parents are urged to monitor all online or video game activity, to prevent predator activity.
About Lori Denman-Underhill
