Yesterday was Sunday, the last day of our family's 7 Day Media Fast. I kind of didn't want it to end, which is surprising given the inner resistance I felt when my fella first suggested this a few weeks ago. In fact, here I sit, the fast has been over for more than 12 hours, and I still don't know the password to my Facebook account. My fella offered to log me in last night, but I was just too tired, and he left for work without giving it to me this morning. The truth is, I don't really mind. I know that when I do log on later today I am going to have nine-zillion notifications to do something about, and the difficult process of balancing my time and priorities will begin.
The past week has given me so many insights into myself, my family, my marriage, and the world we live in. Of all of the things I have pondered, it all basically boils down to one concept: time.
All of the media outlets that we fasted from have their pros and cons. I could talk all day about the negative aspects of television, social media, and gaming. In the end, though, the biggest and most widespread issue with all of these things is that they steal our time.
Time, the resource we can never get back.
As I log on to Pinterest, I feel like I can hear the Wicked Witch cackling with hourglass in hand! (Okay, so maybe not that bad, but you get it.)
Last night, as we reflected on what we have learned this week, we discussed as a family the things we will change permanently. We started the conversation with Man-Cub, who suggested that he watch only one show per day. We were surprised that his input was about his own television consumption and that he was so strict on himself, but we agreed it was a good idea. The fella suggested that we make the time between his arrival home from work and dinner a "Zero Media Time." That means television off and no computers, tablet or games of any kind. We will use this time to connect as a family and finish it with an after-dinner discipleship time as a family. As for myself, I decided to start timing myself while using my preferred time stealers. Not just a mental "I'm going to hop on Facebook for a minute" but an actual timer, allowing me to actually spend just a few moments here or there. For television, I am not much of a tv watcher during the day (there is never anything on!) , but my plan is to just turn it off and keep it off after Man-Cub watches his one show daily.
In a few weeks I will update everyone on how our new found resolutions are working out. Meanwhile, I am pleased to report that this morning after "The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That" finished, Man-Cub happily announced, "My show is over! Turn off the tv!"
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