Unplug much?

Do me a favor and think back five years from now?  Do you remember what you were doing?

Five years ago, Gage was a baby.  We danced and played and watched movies and read books.  We went for walks and swam and drove around looking for adventures.  I checked my Myspace about once every two days to see if Keith had written me from Iraq.  I had real conversations on the phone and met up with people for actual visits with real live coffee.  Everyone had flip phones and texting was dreaded.

Now think of an average week in 2012.  How much are you on the computer?  For me off and on throughout the day, it is an average of HOURS!  It is my go-to for when I need my brain to shut down and release the stress.  I play on Facebook, on Pinterest, I window shop, I read blogs, pay bills and research.

Think of all of the fancy phones, computers, video games and other electronic gadgets.  I am so guilty of it.  Well, not the phone part, but ya know!

Think about it, do we really need to know all of this stuff about each other?  Do we really need to know what every one is doing all day long?  Is it really so hard for us to just pick of the phone and chat for 5 minutes instead of spending 30 minutes texting an identical conversation?

I am beginning to feel a little pathetic as a human being as well as a wife, mother, friend, sister and daughter.  It is just the internet.  It does not bring any of us a single ounce of actual happiness.  What brings us happiness is our family, friends, hugging, making someone smile, planting a garden, playing with babies.... ect.

Right now for TV my family only does Netflix.  We will not be getting a Dish or any of that stuff.  We downgraded to a land-line and trac phones.  We are reading more and cuddling extensively.

I am going to challenge myself to 30 minutes of internet time a day, and designate it for evenings.  Quitting the internet is a lot like quitting smoking and I have tried and failed at this before.  I challenge everyone to attempt to join me.  Try to cut back on the internet and texting and see if you can replace it with phone calls, person to person visits and hand-written letters.  If I can make this lifestyle change I am going to reward myself with a Mommy-Treat of some sort on my birthday this year, which is in August.  If you are considering joining me, comment as to what you will reward yourself with???

Also, in the midst of all of this, I have also cut the pop out again, only allowing myself to have one here and there :)  Keith will be trying to quit smoking here very soon... is there anything you would like to attempt to purge your life from over the next few months?