Monday, October 11, 2010

Unplugged



Doug and I were talking today about how dependent we all seem to be on being "plugged in" these days. It is not uncommon to see people at dinner with their cell phones out, texting or receiving phone calls or e-mails. The portability of laptops means people carry them everywhere, and go online wherever there is free wi-fi (and the list of places offering free wi-fi is constantly expanding). It is not unusual for the pair of us to be found spending evenings and weekends with the TV on, both of us on a couch with a computer on our laps.

We're not happy with this.

Sure, we get out of the house, we have conversations, we do things other than sit in front of a screen. However, our "at home" time is more frequently spent in front of the TV or the computer (or both!) than it is spent doing anything else.

We used to have a regular night during the week that we would stay away from the TV and computers. We also did this one day of the weekend. For whatever reason, we dropped that, but both of us are realizing that, even though we spend all our free time together, we're not really making good use of that time. We're plugged in, but not connecting to one another.

So we're doing it again. Unplugging on Sundays unless Doug has to do some work. No TV, no movies, NO COMPUTERS.

I know once Ty arrives we won't have much choice in the matter, but it's a good habit to start now.

3 comments:

  1. It's a great idea. No TV would be hard -- gotta watch football here. But that's kind of a family activity b/c we all love to cheer on the Colts. But the no computers thing once a week. Probably smart. Good luck.

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  2. I love that idea! I'm trying to pull my family away from the TV on a daily basis, but it's hard. Almost as hard as pulling myself away from my computer addiction. :)
    It's great to always keep tabs on this, to help you stay close to each other.
    But hey, soon you will have a super cute distraction that will be so fascinating, TV might seem totally boring for quite a while!

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  3. That's such a great idea. I totally feel the same way. We spend a lot of time in front of the TV, especially on days where we're not really doing anything productive.

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