It's Christmas Time again!! I love Christmas and my tendency is to do as much as I possibly can. Which stresses me out and my family and my kids. SO for this holiday season, we will keep it simple.
The first step happened last year: I purged our holiday decorations and kept only the things that brought joy to my family. I admit I kept some decorations that only brought joy to my kids also.
The second step is asking my kids "What Christmas activities are a must for you? What do you enjoy the most?" The usual list looks like this:
1. Decorate the Christmas tree
2. Make Christmas cookies
3. Visit our favorite museum for their Christmas celebration
4. See Santa
5. Watch Christmas movies
6. Drink hot chocolate
My daughter and son differ on one activity. Driving through a Christmas lights display. My daughter LOVES it. My son could take it or leave it. My husband and son agree on this one. And this activity is now a Mommy-Daughter date :)
The third step is to add lots of FREETIME to our holiday calendar. We refuse to travel over the Christmas holidays. Family is always welcome to come and visit us. But we stay home. We snuggle up, drink our hot chocolate, and dad makes a warm, crackling fire in our living room. This is our happiest time during Christmas. Just being together.
Yes, of course, we do gifts and Santa. But, our focus in on family time, being together, and experiencing the magic of the holiday season. We won't rush. We will breathe it all in. We will savor the month. We will laugh and talk. We will hug and cuddle. We will sing and dance (ok, my daughter may do most of the dancing). Most of all, we will love. We love on each other. We will give love to others. We will love this season.
Merry Christmas! From our family to yours, we hope you have a magical holiday season!
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Friday, November 10, 2017
Update on Challenge
I have to admit that I have struggled with this challenge. I did well for a few days and then fell off the wagon. It is a seductive pull. That screen. It calls you.
Things that I began doing again:
1. carrying the phone around the house with me
2. texting some
3. googling a little
However, my biggest "fail" was in substituting! ahhhhhh! I put the phone away and I had all this "free" time. So how do I fill it up? I grab my laptop and begin digging my way through 3+ years of family photos to compile a folder that I can then use to create a digital photo album to print from a site such as Shutterfly.
So I have spent the better of the last 6 or so days doing that. My daughter just traded her "you're always on your phone" complaint for "you're always looking at photos" complaint. UGH
Now I have completed my task. I compiled a folder of 418 photos, 412 photos uploaded to Shutterfly, and successfully created a 75 page family photo album of the last 3+ years!!!! I am equal parts elated and embarrassed about this.
Elated that I found the time (finally) to make a family photo album, as I was so, so, so far behind. And honestly, I want my children to have those photo albums to remember our family trips, events, and daily silliness later in their lives. Yes, we have digitally saved ALL photos EVER taken of our family. Unfortunately, they were in no certain order and several (SEVERAL) different folders and very mixed up to look at in that format. Now, they will have a chronological order of the past 3 years of family life and not spend hours trying to figure out their parents' scattered way of saving photos. LOL
I am embarrassed that I traded one screen for another. To me, that is a big fail.
What's done is done at this point. So, to move on......
I will begin again and revisit my thoughts on this challenge. While I feel I have made great strides in curbing my phone usage (and I have evidence by looking at app usage under the battery function!!!), it will be a continuous work in progress.
My family is highly into screens. We have TVs, tablets, Ipads, handheld video games, as well as video game systems (more than 1....more than 3). My kids spend a lot of time watching cartoons, YouTube, and playing video games.
This challenge is for me. But also for them. I want to show them that life can be lived without devices and that it can be fun and rewarding and adventurous even. I need to set the example. I need to BE the change that I want to see. This is my challenge. I will succeed.
Things that I began doing again:
1. carrying the phone around the house with me
2. texting some
3. googling a little
However, my biggest "fail" was in substituting! ahhhhhh! I put the phone away and I had all this "free" time. So how do I fill it up? I grab my laptop and begin digging my way through 3+ years of family photos to compile a folder that I can then use to create a digital photo album to print from a site such as Shutterfly.
So I have spent the better of the last 6 or so days doing that. My daughter just traded her "you're always on your phone" complaint for "you're always looking at photos" complaint. UGH
Now I have completed my task. I compiled a folder of 418 photos, 412 photos uploaded to Shutterfly, and successfully created a 75 page family photo album of the last 3+ years!!!! I am equal parts elated and embarrassed about this.
Elated that I found the time (finally) to make a family photo album, as I was so, so, so far behind. And honestly, I want my children to have those photo albums to remember our family trips, events, and daily silliness later in their lives. Yes, we have digitally saved ALL photos EVER taken of our family. Unfortunately, they were in no certain order and several (SEVERAL) different folders and very mixed up to look at in that format. Now, they will have a chronological order of the past 3 years of family life and not spend hours trying to figure out their parents' scattered way of saving photos. LOL
I am embarrassed that I traded one screen for another. To me, that is a big fail.
What's done is done at this point. So, to move on......
I will begin again and revisit my thoughts on this challenge. While I feel I have made great strides in curbing my phone usage (and I have evidence by looking at app usage under the battery function!!!), it will be a continuous work in progress.
My family is highly into screens. We have TVs, tablets, Ipads, handheld video games, as well as video game systems (more than 1....more than 3). My kids spend a lot of time watching cartoons, YouTube, and playing video games.
This challenge is for me. But also for them. I want to show them that life can be lived without devices and that it can be fun and rewarding and adventurous even. I need to set the example. I need to BE the change that I want to see. This is my challenge. I will succeed.
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Unique Gratitude Challenge
I have been thinking and trying and failing at being present in my life. Being present for my children. Being present for the day to day beauty of experiences. Why?
Number #1 reason: My IPhone
I have become addicted to this device. This wonderful device that maps my routes for me. This wonderful device that keeps me in touch with great friends and family. This wonderful device with apps to keep up with my kids' school projects. This wonderful device that can "google" any information that I want to know. This wonderful device that can play any song at the drop of a hat.
It really is wonderful technology. But it is also like a vacuum. It sucks me in and I can't seem to get out. It consumes my time and I miss out on life that is happening right in front of me. It creates anxiety when I don't know where I left my phone. But let's be honest. That rarely happens. Because my phone is always with me. Always in my hand. Always next to my body. Always in my bag. Always in my car. Always next to my bed when I sleep at night. And always, always ON.
And that is what happens to me. I am - then - always ON. Always connected. Always picking it up out of habit. Always checking. Always searching (or googling). Always texting. Always doing something, anything with that phone.
I remember when I was given my very first cellphone. I was in college. I was working for a nice faculty member who had a flip phone. I was about to begin travel for an internship. The travel would entail driving through a very rural part of our area. My boss asked if I had a cellphone. I laughed and said of course not. I had no need of a cellphone. He implored me to get one, if only for that drive. Just in case, he said. He pressed so much and finally, he took me to the cellphone store and gave me his flip phone, set up my own phone plan, and bought himself a new cellphone (he'd been wanting a new phone anyway, he said).
So what did I do with that new phone? Nothing. I may have used it ONCE while in college, if at all. It was just for emergencies. And there was never any emergency. When I moved to the big city after college, I gave my mother that cellphone and got a new one in the new city. I gave my mother her very first cell phone! She had never had one. And she used it exactly once - for an emergency - when her land line went out. ONCE.
In fact, other than texting and calling, I never used my cellphone for anything else UNTIL I got my first IPhone. And since then, I have used it more and more and more and more. Now, I'm never without it. It is always with me.
With November and the Thanksgiving holidays upon us, I want to challenge myself. To show gratitude. For life. For my kids. For my friends. For my family. For nature. How?
This my challenge: To limit my cellphone usage when others are present.
Rules:
1. When my kids are home in the morning and after school and until they go to bed, I will refrain from all googling, streaming, app using, etc.
2. I will keep my phone in a central location and refrain from carrying it around with me inside the house.
3. When in the car, the phone will stay enclosed in my bag. I will not text or touch my phone when driving. I can answer calls in my car using bluetooth technology if it is a good time to talk. (hands-free)
4. I will focus my attention on my kids and my family and my friends and be present in my life.
Exceptions:
1. I will answer my phone for calls and texts (when it is convenient - ie not dinnertime, homework time, or dedicated family time). When the call or text is over, the phone goes back to that central location.
2. When in transit to a new or unfamiliar location, I will use GPS on my phone to help with directions.
3. I will continue to take my phone with me whenever I leave the house. I want to be accessible for my children when they are at school, my husband, and other family and friends.
This is indeed a unique challenge to promote gratitude and presentness in my life. It may not seem necessary to some people. Maybe you are not as addicted to your phone as I am. Or maybe you just haven't realized your own addiction yet.
For me, this will be a difficult challenge. But one that I hope I am able to accomplish. To be present is a gift. A gift that I would like to give others in my life. And a gift that I would like to give myself.
Number #1 reason: My IPhone
I have become addicted to this device. This wonderful device that maps my routes for me. This wonderful device that keeps me in touch with great friends and family. This wonderful device with apps to keep up with my kids' school projects. This wonderful device that can "google" any information that I want to know. This wonderful device that can play any song at the drop of a hat.
It really is wonderful technology. But it is also like a vacuum. It sucks me in and I can't seem to get out. It consumes my time and I miss out on life that is happening right in front of me. It creates anxiety when I don't know where I left my phone. But let's be honest. That rarely happens. Because my phone is always with me. Always in my hand. Always next to my body. Always in my bag. Always in my car. Always next to my bed when I sleep at night. And always, always ON.
And that is what happens to me. I am - then - always ON. Always connected. Always picking it up out of habit. Always checking. Always searching (or googling). Always texting. Always doing something, anything with that phone.
I remember when I was given my very first cellphone. I was in college. I was working for a nice faculty member who had a flip phone. I was about to begin travel for an internship. The travel would entail driving through a very rural part of our area. My boss asked if I had a cellphone. I laughed and said of course not. I had no need of a cellphone. He implored me to get one, if only for that drive. Just in case, he said. He pressed so much and finally, he took me to the cellphone store and gave me his flip phone, set up my own phone plan, and bought himself a new cellphone (he'd been wanting a new phone anyway, he said).
So what did I do with that new phone? Nothing. I may have used it ONCE while in college, if at all. It was just for emergencies. And there was never any emergency. When I moved to the big city after college, I gave my mother that cellphone and got a new one in the new city. I gave my mother her very first cell phone! She had never had one. And she used it exactly once - for an emergency - when her land line went out. ONCE.
In fact, other than texting and calling, I never used my cellphone for anything else UNTIL I got my first IPhone. And since then, I have used it more and more and more and more. Now, I'm never without it. It is always with me.
With November and the Thanksgiving holidays upon us, I want to challenge myself. To show gratitude. For life. For my kids. For my friends. For my family. For nature. How?
This my challenge: To limit my cellphone usage when others are present.
Rules:
1. When my kids are home in the morning and after school and until they go to bed, I will refrain from all googling, streaming, app using, etc.
2. I will keep my phone in a central location and refrain from carrying it around with me inside the house.
3. When in the car, the phone will stay enclosed in my bag. I will not text or touch my phone when driving. I can answer calls in my car using bluetooth technology if it is a good time to talk. (hands-free)
4. I will focus my attention on my kids and my family and my friends and be present in my life.
Exceptions:
1. I will answer my phone for calls and texts (when it is convenient - ie not dinnertime, homework time, or dedicated family time). When the call or text is over, the phone goes back to that central location.
2. When in transit to a new or unfamiliar location, I will use GPS on my phone to help with directions.
3. I will continue to take my phone with me whenever I leave the house. I want to be accessible for my children when they are at school, my husband, and other family and friends.
This is indeed a unique challenge to promote gratitude and presentness in my life. It may not seem necessary to some people. Maybe you are not as addicted to your phone as I am. Or maybe you just haven't realized your own addiction yet.
For me, this will be a difficult challenge. But one that I hope I am able to accomplish. To be present is a gift. A gift that I would like to give others in my life. And a gift that I would like to give myself.
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