Do you have a smartphone? I do. And to be honest, I didn't really fight getting one. I like the idea of internet at my fingertips, the ability to do away with a planner (I still carry one, oddly enough), games to while away the minutes as we drive somewhere, and being attached to Twitter, Instagram, Vine, Facebook, Jelly, Pinterest, etc.
They've become somewhat of a hot button issue in my family...but just around the holidays. My mom once scolded my husband for being on his phone during Christmas celebrations and it's now grown into the sort of semi-joke that you're never really certain how seriously to take it. Stay off your phone on the holidays. Unless you're calling/texting your family. Or taking pictures. Or Vining something. Or Instagramming it. For Thanksgiving, I put out a basket with a sign on it saying "Be with the ones you're with" for everyone to put their phone in during dinner. An idea I shamelessly stole from Pinterest. And I'm beginning to notice that the times I feel that flicker of annoyance with my husband is when I'm talking and he's checking his Facebook on his phone. Or our daughter wants his attention and he's scrolling through Twitter. Or we're at a friend's house and he's re-stocking the floors in his Tiny Death Star. I'm guilty of the same thing.
So I'm giving up my smartphone for February. I've wondered aloud several times in January how we got along without the internet at our beck and call back in the day. I'm probably the last year of educated people who got along writing research papers without Wikipedia, Google, you name it. Now it seems I can't even go through an entire TV show without looking up an actor's filmography on IMDB. So, starting Saturday, I'm giving up Twitter, Instagram, Vine, Jelly, and the internet on my phone. No games, no web searches. My phone is for calls and texts only. And the alarm clock. I'd give up texting, but then I wouldn't have a social life. If I need to Google something or check Facebook, I can get up and go to the computer or I can wait until I get home. Time to disconnect a little bit.
I'd rather make eye contact with my daughter a little more often. I'd rather take pictures I'm going to print than pictures I'm going to post. And to be honest, as much as I like the celebrities I follow on Twitter, I don't need to know what they had for lunch or what book they just finished reading.
I'll do my best to keep you updated on Fridays.
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