King's Daughter's Kitchen

I made new screen time choices in 2010 about what and who is allowed to enter my home and influence my family. My husband and daughter begrudgingly went along. Then, the choices became our every day lifestyle.

If the person on the screen were a real person… standing in my living room, talking and doing as he or she is, is that acceptable?

We turned off the internet. We got rid of the tv’s. We had internet on phones and used it in town for long-reading documents, printing, and research.

My husband read the paper and listened to talk radio. My radio was tuned to Christian music and sermons. My daughter’s music varied by her free choice. We were very different.

We had more time outside, took trips, cooked, gardened, read, swam, wrote letters, made and fixed things, exercised, talked to each other, slept better and more, and lived more life present in the moments.

We also fought more. There was nowhere to zone out from the world. There was nowhere to hide for hours from stressful homework or work we didn’t want to do. There was no easy distraction. We had to face ourselves, our own minds, and each other as we never had before. That required mental and emotional growth on all our parts which did not happen in the time all three of us lived in the same space. It’s hard to love other people when you do not love yourself.

Years later, I still have no internet except for my phone. I blog in the morning. Then, I’m not on the device again until after supper when chores are done, unless I get a phone call. I also use my phone as an encyclopedia for answers. It’s a tool, not an appendage. When I’m done, I put it away. I have had the same working device since 2016. I love myself. I like who I am becoming. This me looks forward to quiet contemplating and to FaceTime with friends and family. Balance is beautiful. Being zoned out, not knowing myself, me who I am, would be sad. My choice to live in the moment and not zone out has been hard at times, and I have been criticized, but I won’t go back.