Today is Labor Day and we spent the weekend with our whole family. Hanging out last night and waking up to the men and children in the family preparing brunch for all the moms. It was a nice treat to sit back and be waited on for the morning. When the whole family gets together no one pays much attention to their phones, computers or iDevices. It’s nice. We play games, hang out, eat and drink but most of all, unplug.
Life Goes On
In today’s technology-littered world it is too easy to let moments, big and small, pass you by. We spend so much of our time with eyes on a screen we sometimes forget to just stop and look up.
This past Christmas, being my daughters first, I vowed to not spend any time on my phone or computer while she was awake for the whole week my husband was off. I wanted to enjoy our family time together and soak up all that the season brings. See family, watch my daughters expression when she saw the Christmas tree light up, just enjoy every. single. moment. I admit that I thought this may be difficult. What if I missed an e-mail that needed attention? What if something happened on my blog that I needed to take care of? Would my readers forget about me if I disappeared for a week? I came back in January and everything was fine. Life went on even though I had a full inbox, comments to get caught up on and blog posts to edit.
I’m bad for constantly checking my phone, twitter, e-mail and blog stuff. Admittedly, even when my daughter is in my presence. It breaks my heart when I’m in the middle of catching up on e-mails only to look up at my daughter playing and her staring at me looking for my reaction and excitement when she’s accomplished something.
Like many, my husbands cell phone is a lifeline for his job. He’s constantly getting e-mails for work, phone calls from different people and calendar reminders to get tasks done. This continues to happen after 4pm when his work day is ‘done’. It’s sometimes very important to stay connected, especially when you’re on the job search. You have to be in contact with the jobs site in case new listings are posted. You want to be able to make sure that you get your stuff in first.
A Blessing and a Curse
Technology is a great thing, we couldn’t live without it, but it’s just too much sometimes. I miss the simple times of not having that nagging feeling of needing to check my phone for notifications every five minutes. I miss eating supper with no phone, email or work interruptions. I miss being able to physically leave work and that be the end of a workday. Today’s technology allows someone to connect with you in so many ways there is no ignoring people anymore.
I love how far technology has come in the last twenty years. It amazes me what has been accomplished but it’s also too easy to let it rule your life. This past weekend was another reminder that unplugging once in a while is a good thing and certain things in life can just wait. I don’t ever get a first Mothers Day again, I wasn’t about to allow a Blackberry take away from any special moment.
Do you unplug on a regular basis?
Catherine is a first time momma to a rambunctious toddler. When she isn’t soaking up all that motherhood has to offer, you can find her blogging over at Plunged in Debt where she chronicles her and her husbands journey out of debt. You can also follow her on Twitter.
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Tell me about life’s simplicities. I sometimes long for the days when things a less complicated actually, when technology doesn’t rule our life. When kids spend more time outdoors to play, get their clothes dirty and just have fun. I’m a techie guy too but dear Lord, I miss those days.
I totally agree. I saw two kids playing outside yesterday running at each other with sticks and it made me sad when I had to honestly stop and think the last time I had seen that; kids using their imagination and getting fresh air.
My wife and I used to go camping a few times a year in order to unplug. I am talking about deep woods camping where you have to carry everything you want to bring. There is never cell phone service where we camp, so it was always great. I don’t know how much of that we will be able to do with our son, but camping is our way to unplug from the world.
Oh we’re big campers too! I love it. I’m sad to say with a thousand weddings this summer it likely won’t happen until Sept 🙁