I am definitely happy with the way this past weekend went. I was not perfectly distraction-free — there were several occasions where I had my phone out and was texting, and quite possibly driving Josh nuts. But I spent a lot of time where I did feel present. With the kids. With Josh. With myself (while running). It was really really nice.
I no longer have many temptations on my phone, which really helps*. However, it’s hard to let go of the conditioned response to respond to a text when it comes in. I clearly do much better if my phone is nowhere in sight (don’t we all?!) but sometimes I hear it. Or see it when I pick it up to do something else (log an expense, look up directions, check if a restaurant is open, etc).
I might actually entertain the idea of turning it OFF — OFF! — for a weekend in the future, as long as I am with the kids. Who else could possibly need to reach me emergently? And if they did, they could go through Josh. That said I am dependent on the GPS to go anywhere unfamiliar. So, yeah.
Weekend happenings:
Saturday
– rather lazy Saturday AM
– dropped A at a playdate (seriously these drop-off playdates make me feel like I have such big kids!)
– took C for a coffee & cookie & some playground fun during A’s date
– Josh worked in the AM but met up with us after. I have decided that this is my preferred time slot for him to get things done if needed — best to get it OUT of the way!
– went to The Actor’s Playhouse children’s theater to see Jack and the Beanstalk – and both kids sat happily and watched! This was a first.
– family date night (Josh & his parents) at Macchialina. We never get to talk without a kid interrupting mid-sentence these days so this was really nice.
Sunday
– 6 mi run
– beach trip! There were rainclouds in our area so we drove about 45 minutes north and ended up in Hollywood. It was super low-key, less crowded, and we did escape the rain. The water was a little rough and cold (uhh, to us, we’re wimps) so the kids mostly played in the sand and ran back and forth along the shoreline. It was great.
– lunch @ Le Tub – beer + snow crabs* were consumed while enjoying a view of the Intercoastal.
– Whole Foods trip with Annabel. I loved having the one-on-one time with her.
We didn’t do so well with the DST bedtime (I think it was 9:15 pm before the kids were in bed which is more than an hour later than normal so, oops). So, tired today. But it was a really nice weekend.
LINKS
Zen Habits: The Practice of One Thing at a Time
Neverhome(maker) My month away from Facebook
Un-Fancy Some Pieces Are Worth the Wait(mostly b/c I am jealous of her Piece)
* I miss Instagram, but honestly the break is healthy.
** Yes I am trying to eat more plant-based but I just am not an all-or-nothing kind of person!
View of the intercoastal waterway at Le Tub
Enjoying the view
Apres-beach. Attempted a photo together but he played hard-to-get as usual
Climber
Boats and blue sky
4 Comments
What I meant to say up front was that you are inspiring me to unplug more. This weekend I spent way too much time scrolling and texting (mostly my dad, but still…) and not enough time in the moment. It definitely affects my enjoyment of things.
Your weekend sounds lovely! I’m a little jealous, it was in the 20s and windy here and we spent most of it indoors.
Have you looked into turning off your notifications? I recently started getting in the habit of turning off work email notifications on the weekends. So, now, even when I’m using the phone for other purposes, I don’t see (or hear) any indication that there are work emails waiting for me. You could also do this with any other apps you still have on there. It’s worked very well for me! (I’ve also been known to completely remove email from my phone for an extended weekend trip… or when I really don’t want to be tempted. It’s so easy to turn back on again, when Monday rolls around.)
So I just went into my phone and turned off nearly every notification! I didn’t realize I had so many . My email notification was actually already off, but I just turned off text notifications too – although not sure if that means I won’t actually see any texts unless messaging app open? Will need to experiment . . thank you!
I turned off my phone today so I can get work done. I still scrolled facebook mindlessly on the iPad, but finally put it down. OMG SO MANY DISTRACTIONS.
I did turn off notifications like Kim suggested, and it definitely helped too.