Unplug And Plug In

Unplug to plug in … it sounds so simple, doesn’t it?  Why is it so hard?   

How Does Your Day Begin?

Beep, beep beep…It’s 5:30 am….I hit the snooze button on my iPhone.  15 minutes later, I turn the alarm off and roll out of bed.  Creep down the stairs ever so quietly.  Start my coffee.  Plop on the couch.  Check the weather on my phone.  Check my emails on my computer.  Don’t forget Facebook!  Log into my newspaper account to check local and national headlines.

Text a few friends I know keep early hours like me.  Work on this blog.  

Do you see where I’m going?  Even BEFORE my children wake, my entire morning has revolved around my electronic devices.  Is it really reasonable to think that once my girls stumble out of bed with their messy hair and half-open eyes that I will miraculously shut everything down and focus only on them?

 

Unplug From The Virtual World and Plug In to The Real One

Not likely…at least not without a plan.  So today I am proposing a relatively easy plan to help you unplug from the virtual world and plug in to the real one.  To plug in to your children and their needs, if only exclusively for a short period of a time.

I mean, I get it.  This isn’t the world we grew up in.  When I was little, the only thing competing for my mom’s attention (outside of my two other sisters) was the phone!!  Yeah sure, we had tv but my mom, who btw is the best mom in the entire world in my eyes, never watched tv until we went to bed.  

And that phone??  Well, she was rarely on it.  Because we were her entertainment, so to speak.  She signed up for this motherhood thing and we were hers.  No distractions.

But these days, I personally feel naked if I accidentally leave home without my phone.  What if I’m in an accident?  What if the doctor calls me back?  What if the girls are sick at school?  You see, our connected world has a lot of benefits too.

It just so happens that distracted mothering isn’t one of them.

So what’s my solution?  Don’t stress – I’m not telling you to go cold-turkey because honestly in this day and age, one would be hard pressed to manage without a cell phone and computer (though I’m sure some people do).  

No, I’m merely suggesting that for 1 hour a day, you walk away from everything but being in the moment with your kids.  

I find the best way for me to do this is to actually leave my phone, computer, iPad, etc, somewhere else in the house.  So if the girls and I are in the playroom upstairs, I leave my phone in the kitchen downstairs.  

Sometimes we play, sometimes we read.  But more often than not, this is when my kids, especially my older daughter, open up.  Talk about their day.  Tell me the things that happened at school, who she played with, how her test went.  The little things….but really the big things when you think about it.

Because it’s nice to be listened to…and to be heard.  Ask yourself how you feel when you’re talking to your friend and her nose is always buried in her phone.  Sure, you get the occasional uh-huh and head nod but it certainly doesn’t make you feel very special, does it?  Now imagine you’re the child here.  And the one person you love the most doesn’t seem to have time to JUST PUT DOWN HER PHONE and be with you.  

Let’s do It Together

So today, I hope you’ll take on this challenge and know I’ll be doing it with you.  And hopefully lots of other parents reading this blog will do the same.  And we will know that the world won’t stop spinning without our phones in that hour.  

But in that one hour, the world will melt away for our kids because it will be just us and them.  And they will feel heard.

 

See you tomorrow as we continue along this month’s journey of 31 Days and 31 Ways to Be a Better Mom!

If you have missed any in the series 31 Days & 31 Ways To Be A Better Mom, catch up here:

INTRO TO SERIES:

INTRO TO 31 DAYS & 31 WAYS TO BE A BETTER MOM

DAY 1: OUR BEFORE SCHOOL RULE

DAY 2: UNPLUG AND PLUG IN

DAY 3: STEP AWAY FROM YOUR CHILD

DAY 4: EMBRACE YOUR CRAZY

DAY 5: BE A REBEL

DAY 6: DO AS I SAY

DAY 7: FIND YOUR VILLAGE

DAY 8: DIVIDE & CONQUER

DAY 9: ONE SMART COOKIE

DAY 10: CREATE YOUR OWN FAMILY TRADITIONS

DAY 11: STOP COMPARING YOUR CHILD

DAY 12: TAKE CARE OF #1

DAY 13: DATE YOUR CHILD

DAY 14: THE MEAL TIME RULE WE DON’T BREAK

DAY15: GIVE THEM KISSES LOTS OF KISSES

DAY 16: IN THE MIDST OF THE STORM, BE THEIR CALM

DAY 17: PUT YOURSELF IN THEIR SHOES

DAY 18: QUIT BEATING YOURSELF UP

DAY 19: RELAX…YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO FINISH

DAY 20: NURTURING YOUR MARRIAGE AFTER CHILDREN

DAY 21: WHEN THEY ARE HARD TO LOVE, LOVE THEM HARDER

DAY 22: FAMILY DINNER SHMINNER

DAY 23: REBELLION IS A CRAZY THING

DAY 24: TELL THEM IT WILL GET BETTER

DAY 25: YOU DON’T HAVE TO LOVE YOUR KIDS THE SAME

DAY 26: IT’S OKAY TO WISH TODAY WAS OVER

DAY 27: BE A GOOD DAUGHTER

DAY 28: QUIT TRYING TO BE THAT OTHER MOM

DAY 29: YOU CAN’T BUY THEIR HAPPINESS

DAY 30: TELL YOUR KIDS YOU ARE A FAILURE

DAY 31: LEARNING TO LET GO

BE SURE AND CHECK OUT THESE OTHER POSTS!