Taking time to disconnect was a good idea

This summer was all about unplugging. We disconnected in a major way and our family is probably better off for it. It wasn't intentional to start, but it ended up that way. No one was hurt. Nothing went wrong, but DANG, people get super annoyed when you don't respond right away to certain things! 

Our new campground is a black hole. Finding a signal is like finding cheap gas. It's there, but you have to work for it! We originally opted for the internet package so we would have the comfort of home and people could work remotely. Then we realized NO. Camping is about relaxing, connecting, hiking, biking, swimming, enjoying. It's not about textathons and gaming and reels. 

What did that mean for us? It meant having signal in 3 or 4 places on our campsite. It meant me riding my bike to the store if I truly needed to make a call. Or wandering the campsite with my arms outstretched to find the money spot where the signal worked. And we were Okay with that! 

The kids watched DVDs at night to unwind. We listened to a local classic rock station all summer that kept us entertained. We had real conversations and made real eye contact. Our kids took up fishing and had photo shoots to fill their time, instead of catching up with texts from home. No one ignored the conversation with the glow of the cell phone in their hands. The kids were able to use old school walkie talkies for communication. 

We did play on our phones. I can't lie. Early in the morning I would drag my camp chair and coffee to just the right spot and play on my phone while everyone woke up. We streamed movies or shows on occasion. The kids would take their phones when they left for photos, but also to grab a signal. I would catch up on calls, texts, posts when we got home and unpacked. It was a lovely way to unwind after we got home.

In hindsight, I wouldn't change a thing. We could've paid for the internet package, but I am glad we didn't. No one felt ignored by shows, calls or scrolling. We connected and bonded in a way that isn't possible when we are tied down to our devices. It was wonderful. We needed rest. The rest wasn't from our life being hectic and overwhelming. The rest was feeling tied to devices and hitting nonstop speeds trying to live and do all the things.

Give yourself permission to rest, whatever that looks like, before it's too late!

do NOT head down the rabbit hole!

It all started with me jumping on Facebook last night... I was just killing time and relaxing as per usual. Adam Sandler won the People's Icon Award. I love Adam Sandler, so I google the award and yep, it's what I thought it was. They showed part of Jennifer Aniston's intro speech for him and part of his acceptance speech.

Upon reading the comments, I realized his actual speech was hilarious and much longer. For some reason, it was not allowing me to click through the Facebook post and watch it all. And here we go. Down the rabbit hole I went! On to YouTube to find that speech! 

I watched Jennifer Aniston's whole intro speech and Adam Sandler's whole acceptance speech. As I backed out of those videos, I saw that Adam Sandler also won the Mark Twain award for comedy. What is that you ask? I had to Google that, too. Then back to YouTube to see what they had to offer for entertainment. 

I watched a ton of funny comedians give speeches honoring Adam Sandler and I laughed so hard I cried. Chris Rock, David Spade, Steve Buscemi, Pete Davidson. Lots of funny folks. Then as I backed out of THAT, it was showing videos for 9/11. How the heck??? Ah, Pete Davidson. There's the connection. If you don't know, just Google it.

So here I am, 8 o'clock at night claiming I am jumping in the shower and I see "Live with Regis and Kelly on 9/11". Wait. They aired that day? Oh, yeah. It was already airing while the national disaster occurred. And click. They are talking, opening the show and cut to the Twin Towers. Tower 1 is burning and they're trying to figure it out. Kelly Ripa is clearly distraught, but no one quite knows what is happening so they keep talking. Then tower 2 gets hit and you can see the pain in Kelly's eyes as she struggles with what she is viewing. And now I AM CRYING. 

I went from relaxing on Facebook to Adam Sandler winning awards to reliving 9/11 through Kelly Ripa's eyes and I am bawling. And what is the point of all this, you may ask??? Our KIDS. How many times has my kid clicked through on YouTube and it just keeps feeding her algorithm with videos it thinks she likes? What is SHE actually viewing? Man, I hope she is using discretion and common sense and good choices as SHE keeps clicking and clicking along. 

You know what else you can click through? ALL the live footage of 9/11. Crime. Violence. Scary stuff. Granted, there are awards and commercials and skits and bloopers and funny stuff out there, but for some reason, the search last night started funny and ended in tears and sorrow and sad memories. It really made me think. 

We had a solid discussion today about making good online choices. We reinforced the idea that Facebook messenger kids and YouTube truly IS good enough for now. I reminded her anything that goes online never actually disappears and she needs to make good choices, be honest and say something if she sees something wrong. Fingers crossed other kids get the same speech and understand the rules. You just never know what is out there waiting behind your next click!