iPhone Addicts Check Phone Here

Richard and I recently purchased two iPod Touch 4-s as anniversary presents to ourselves. And we LOVE them! Unfortunately, we now understand why everyone else seemed to have their relationship with their phone as the primary one in their life. It really is amazingly tempting to just check your email really fast during a boring conference or lesson-or check out the last groupon-or text a friend super-fast b/c you forgot to tell them x, y or z. In the first few weeks of frenetic use we found we often had to precede comments or queries with "please put your iPod down" to make sure attention was actually focused. So as of this week, we decided it was time to make some boundaries for ourselves, and our home, so if you come visit us soon, here is what to expect!

1. No cell phones/iPods or computers in the bedroom(s). This may seem a no-brainer, but you can spend hours 'browsing' instead of actually training your body that bedtime = sleeptime. The CDC estimates that 50-70 million Americans suffer from a sleep disorder of some kind.

2. No electronics at the dinner table. If you are sharing a meal with someone, it is only courteous to also share a conversation. Sometimes I find myself at a loss for discussion topics, as it is so rare that I get to see my husband at the dinner table I can't even remember which thing of the million things I need to talk to him about should take priority! I help myself seize the moments at dinner and in car-rides for conversation by making a list (yes, on my iPod!) of things I want to talk to Richard about whenever they occur to me. Then when I have a 'captive audience' (e.g. driving or chewing) I am never at a loss.

3. No electronics in the family room/game room (when it is being used as such). Since our house is so small we don't have a dedicated game room, but we decided that when we have friends or family over for games, a movie night, or an evening of chatter-our big back room becomes a technology-free zone. We simply ask people to turn their phones off and leave them in a cute container I labeled "The Great and Spacious Box."

One of the primary factors urging us to 'lay down the law' was the realization of how easy it was to be physically present and mentally absent. We spend so much of our time insanely busy that when we do manage to squeak out a few hours to spend with friends and family, we want them to BE there to spend it with! Nothing is more frustrating than having a game, meal or conversation halted because someone gets a call, or needs to reply to a text, or just plain finds their email more interesting.

Obviously, we follow the same rules ourselves. Yes, we both now have cell phones and iPods, so contacting us is simpler than ever. However, it will probably never be instantaneous. If you ever need to reach us and can't-it is highly likely that we just didn' t see your call, or if we did, we didn't pick it up. It could well mean that we are spending time with someone else, who is equally important to us as you are. But don't worry, when we call you back, or spend time with you-YOU are the most important person, and everyone else can then wait for you. It is our hope that intentionally structuring our lives to FOCUS on the people we are with in the moment will make each moment richer, and every day better.