5 . Few pieces of furniture are so on-trend as Michel Ducaroy’s Togo sofa, whose design is 50 years old. Shaped like a tube of toothpaste folded over on itself and available in a variety of toothsome colours, it’s been popping up all over the place, from chic Instagram feeds to Victoria Beckham’s pre-spring-summer fashion campaign. Sales have almost doubled over the past year, not just in Europe but also in Australia and China.

It’s far from the only 1970s furnishing being talked about again. From earth-tone palettes, Murano-glass mushroom lamps and wild houseplants to charming velvet(天鹅绒), smooth chrome(铬合金) and homely rattan(藤条) furniture, everything we loved about that decade, and thankfully very little of what horrified us, is suddenly in fashion again. We get to rediscover the modular sofas while leaving lurid(艳丽的), headache-inducing wallpapers and carpeted bathrooms firmly where they belong – in the past.

Michel Roset, creative director at Ligne Roset, which has produced the Togo sofa since it launched, suggests that the decade’s experimental aesthetic(审美观) is part of its contemporary appeal. “People were longing to change,” he said. The 70s were also a period of freedom, he added. “Fitting in with what’s ‘normal’ is not thrilling – pushing the boundaries is thrilling. And of course that is what we want today.”

Ligne Roset’s exploitation of the period began in 2008, with a reissue of Pierre Paulin’s appropriately named Pumpkin armchair and sofa from 1971, which proved an unexpected hit. It inspired its following steps.

Other companies are travelling back in time too. Earlier this year, Herman Miller reissued the Wilkes Modular Sofa Group – 35 years after it was discontinued. The collection’s playful but unusual shape helped it acquire a cult life on Pinterest, design blogs and Instagram.

Herman Miller’s lead archivist Amy Auscherman says that balance between offering thrilling, bold new designs while not sacrificing comfort sums up the spirit of the 70s. And it goes a long way to explaining why we’ve been in such love with it now. As our homes have become the place where we live out every aspect of our lives – from work to play to rest – it’s understandable that we’d want these spaces to become more exciting but also cosy.

6 . “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” When it comes to device addiction, this may very well be the case. If you believe that how you engage with your smartphone has no impact on your children, think again.

One study looked at 200 families and noted that the children of parents with phone addictions were much more likely to have behavior issues. In short, this obsession led to “technoference” or interruption of everyday interactions between parents and kids. In some cases, this interruption happened in face-to-face conversations, and in other cases, the devices disrupted playtime or meals. When this type of “technoference” occurred, parents rated their children as displaying more behavior problems, including whining, losing temper, sulking (生闷气), and becoming frustrated.

In addition, according to children development experts, there are bilateral (双边的) signaling systems that occur between adults and children, aiding the construction of the basic architecture of the brain. For example, infants and toddlers are highly engaged with the vocal cues of their parents that tend to happen with simplified grammar, a high-pitched tone, and exaggerated enthusiasm. This mode of relational conversation is incredibly important to a child’s development.

With the arrival of smartphones, many parents are distracted and stuck in what experts are calling “continuous partial attention” mode. This leads to significant and recurring disruptions to the parent-child conversation flow, which can impair not only a child’s language learning ability but also their school achievements overall.

While your habit may seem harmless, your kids may actually be imitating your behavior and forming a dependence of their own. One study reported that some teenagers may spend up to 12 hours — half of an entire day — online and mindlessly swiping through social media apps without engaging in any one piece of content beyond a few seconds.

As a parent, the best thing you can do is lead by example. Try to limit time spent with technology, especially when it diverts (牵制) your attention from other priorities. Shut down smartphones at dinner. Set aside phone-free time each day to engage with your children without the distraction that technology brings. While you may not be able to completely cut ties with new modes of communication, you can be sure that your children get the one-on-one time they need to develop into healthy, happy adults.