Amputation Time Part II

Tomorrow I will be disconnecting my iPhone. And while I will miss the gadget-y features (yes, gadget-y is a word! 😉 I’m actually looking forward to it.

In the past couple of days I haven’t been checking my phone as much in “preparation” for the “surgery”. Surprisingly enough, I’ve felt more relaxed and much more “in the moment” with my kids.

Instead of half listening to them and muttering a distracted, “uh huh,” I’m really listening. And hearing. With eye contact. It’s been noticeable in their behavior and responses as well.

Instead of reading what others are doing, we are going out and doing stuff! Today we went to my sister’s coffee shop and rostery! The kids got to see their uncle roasting coffee beans…such a cool field trip!

I played trains with my son. I love him so much and the things he says crack me up. When I am engaged and not distracted, he opens up even more. (Even if it is only to tell me how much he loves Thomas the Train!)

I am WAY more productive!! I got the lawn mowed, laundry put away, dishes done, coffee shop field trip, and gas in the car before 11am!!! As the saying goes, “multi-tasking is doing many things…badly”. Gadget/facebook distractions exemplify this principle precisely.

So tomorrow on our date night, we will bid adieu to iPhone fun. And I know that my arms and legs won’t fall off….

Here’s to going back to a phone being just a phone, unitasking instead of multitasking, REAL conversations, and truly engaging my kids by being present.