Motivational Monday #2: Unplugging (with link-up)

My name is Becky and I am addicted to technology.

There, I said it.  I am a victim of the "always plugged in" society.  The thought of an entire day without the Internet gives me the shakes.  

It wasn't always this way though.  Like all of you, I remember where I was on 09/11/01.  I was sitting in class at the beginning of my sophomore year of college.  The class was from 9:10 - 11:00 and I therefore did not hear about the events of 9/11 until around 11:15 that morning.  No joke.

I know, it's insane, right?!  When I think of it now, I can't even remember that of society,  I had a cell phone, as did probably most the students in the room, but apparently no one, not one of the 20+ kids in the room, kept theirs on.  Get that...we turned off our cell phones!  Gasp!

Now, I can't even imagine going somewhere without my cell phone.  My cell phone that, as of 3 years ago, has full Internet access.  Even more than that, I cannot fathom turning off my phone at any time, not even to sleep.  How would I wake up without my phone alarm?!

While I love technology and the Internet, I don't like some of the things that it has done to me.  For instance, I can no longer have down time.  It is like I have technology ADD.

And it is not just me.  Look around.  People can no longer just "do nothing" while waiting in line or sitting in a waiting room.  They are surfing the Internet on their phones.  People can no longer drive without talking on the phone.  As soon as we ("we" being the collective "we") wake up the morning, we immediately grab our phones.  God Forbid we missed something in the 7 hours that we were sleeping.  

It is crazy.  

This morning, I looked at the monitor and saw my sweet, sweet Moose laying there, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling, and contentedly twirling her hair.  I was instantaneously both envious and in awe.  In that moment, it struck me that technology has taken that peacefulness away from all of us.  

Think about it, kids can just sit around and play for hours.  They can lay in bed and be happy doing nothing.  We, the victims of the "plugged in society," have lost that ability.  It is sad.

Baby Myra helping Mommy type an email.  

So, last spring, I made the choice to "unplug."  Before you either admire me, pity me, or both, hear me out.  I am not actually "unplugging."  I'm not trying to go into withdrawal here, people.  For the past 6 months or so, since Myra has started being more aware of her surroundings, I have unplugged while she is awake.  

What was my motivation for that?  Well, last spring, I was doing something on the computer and she wanted to sit with me.  I said, "one minute, Mommy is finishing something on the computer."  She looked at me and said, "no computer."  It was then that I realized, "wow, she gets it now and I don't EVER want her to feel like whatever is on my computer or phone is more important than she is."

That, being said, there are obviously calls, texts, and emails that I have to take.  And waiting for those things is a good life lesson for her.  Having to wait, however, for me to scan Facebook or read the news, is not the message that I want to send.  She needs to know that she is more important than anything that Mommy could be looking at on the Internet.

Today though, I realized that my motivation actually goes beyond that.  It is also about what I wrote above.  I don't want her to end up like me, being so addicted to the Internet that she can no longer brush her teeth without her cell phone nearby.  I don't want to see her lose that sweet childhood peacefulness.

Deep down, I know that she will eventually grow up and become like the rest of us, perhaps even worse because she will have technology that we never even dreamed of, but I want to shield her sweet innocence for as long as I possible can.

So, that, my friends, is my motivation for "unplugging."  Do any of you have an addition to technology (don't we all)?  Have any of you chosen to "unplug" while your kids are awake?

And now...check out this awesome blog hop!

The Motivational Monday Link-Up is a way to share inspirational posts with other blogger friends. Monday can sometimes be a day of the week that we dread, especially after a great weekend, so let's inspire and motivate each other every Monday! So let's go, let's share those posts!

1. Follow your hosts.

2. Link up as many Motivational posts as you want.

3. Share this hop so others can join in.

4. Visit at least 3 other blogs and give them some encouragement.

5. Leave a comment with blog url so we can follow back!

                        Courtney                                  Shannon                                            Becky

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