Why I'm Giving Myself Screen-Time Limits

That's not a click-bait title. I'm pretty sure if you're an American over the age of 11, you know exactly why.

I'm not going to include this blog in that, because it's not like I ever blog anyway, and I'm a better person when I'm writing (probably).

It has been a solid year since I last blogged. Pity, really, because we've done lots of interesting things, including raising a barnyard variety of poultry, starting to homeschool, and slowly descending into a life of madness.

I love writing, but I don't have the discipline to do it regularly. It seems that most of the problems I have in my life are caused by my lack of discipline, diligence, and patience. These things have been brought to my attention in a constant, tiny, steady stream (sarcastic-but-heartfelt thanks, Chris & Larry), in a way that I can't brush off or ignore.

For now.

Give me a week or two without encouragement and I'll be right back in my spiritual and lifestyle rut, thankyouverymuch.
I prefer doing whatever I want to do, whenever I want to do it. Shocking, I know.
But it's starting to seem like maybe this isn't the best way to live. Again, it's a real shocker.

I lack discipline and I like my phone. It's a lovely way of finding surrogate connection and "unwinding".

Here's the problem. I stay up too late, looking at my phone. I wake up unrested & irritated, then check my phone, in case something(?) happened overnight. I feed the boys and make myself food, but they eat quickly so I'm left at the table, finishing up alone, yelling for them to stop fighting, and looking at my phone. I drink too much coffee, which turns me into a jittery, anxious mess. THEN I try to be a loving, patient, intelligent teacher and mother to two sensitive little boys.

It's amazing how shocked I am when it doesn't go well.

It's also amazing how I want to cover this up. I want to tell you, friend, that I'm not like that every day. That I totally have it under control. And honestly? Some days I do. But not most days.

I have no plan in place to help my self-control on days that I feel like crap. You know, those bad days where the world (and your children) are against you, and you need and deserve to zone out for a minute. Instead of pushing ahead and working through hard things, I use my phone to do my best to escape them. Instead of using hard things as an opportunity to improve, I use them as an opportunity to retreat. 

I really don't think that's what God (or common sense) wants me to do.

So I came up with a plan. I am going to do my best to make it work, though Lord knows that following through on things isn't my strong suit (damn you, diligence!). I made a box. I got to use pretty paper and play with words, so I got all excited about it. Now that it's made, I have to do the hard work of actually using it, and breaking my cycle of addiction to constant, mostly empty 'connectivity'.

Don't be jealous of my mad photog skills

It says,

"When we have worked hard & cheerfully

When we have talked long & lovingly

When we have played true & thoroughly

Then we may enjoy screen time freely"

It's all a bit crookedy and I want to fix a million tiny details, but when you know your kids are waking up from a nap in 20 minutes you do what you've gotta do. It makes me smile to see it, and since making it Sunday I've managed to leave my cell phone and the tv remote in there for hours at a time. I'm going to make another one for the dinner table, because the phones/tablets have been creeping in and making occasional appearances there, too. I feel like the dinner table should be a sacred space, sacred to food and talking and probably coloring and crafts, too. It's a tech-free zone, but those damn electronics seem to really want to be there. 

So just in a few days my house is cleaner, my emotions are steadier, and my boys are happier.

Huh. It's almost like connecting with the real world is the way I was meant to live.



Do you have a 'little problem' with constant connectivity? Do you think I'm just a crazy person and taking a step back from social media is madness? Let me hear ya in the comments!