Excess Media

In 7, the fourth month is a media fast, and this is one that I am expecting to be a challenge for me. I seem to spend a lot of time online -- shopping for books, looking for recipes, searching for ideas for weekend activities, reading friends' blogs, trying to find neat ways of teaching the kids new things, learning about gardening and birds, checking Facebook often and keeping up with friends that way, searching for certain scriptures, and so much more! I use my cell phone when I'm waiting in line to pick up kids, when I'm waiting for an appointment, when I'm waiting for anything that isn't quite happening as soon as I'm ready for it to. In all my waiting, I check the weather forecasts, catch up on local and national news stories, text Allen and other friends to make plans or ask quick questions, play games, look for Pinterest ideas, and check email. When I'm not plugged in or otherwise busy, I can spend waste time flipping through magazines and catalogs. A couple evenings a week, Allen and I watch TV together. Though I really enjoy some shows that make us laugh till we cry, we waste too much time watching junk. April is my month for detoxing from all my media junk food.

Here is the plan for me:

• No TV
• No Facebook
• No catalogs or magazines
• No texting or phone apps*
• No cell phone - I have survived before without a cell phone, so I know it is possible. I plan to carry my phone to use in an emergency (or if the school calls), but I plan to not use it otherwise.
• No radio, but we will listen to Seeds CDs when we want some music (but not as an aural pacifier for restless children)
• I will check my email twice a day - I cannot completely give it up because that is the primary way I communicate with all the kids' teachers and schools, and I have several other people or companies I need to keep in touch with that way.
• Limited internet use - I will continue to pay bills online, but I will not shop online. I do plan to keep up with my blog (or try to), but I will not check other blogs. I may need to use the internet for some projects I'm working on, but I will only do that if I really NEED to and cannot find the information another way.

* Since I won't have be listening to the radio or watching TV, I will be using my phone app to check weather. I feel like I need to have access to storm warnings as Texas in April can be quite stormy.

My family is getting on board with me, too. All of us are giving up TV, Wii, movies, and radio for the month. Ben, Maddie, and Jon volunteered to give up all video games. Will refused to give all of the games up, and since that is often a way to motivate him, I think I am okay with that. He will not play games when the other kids are home, though, and he will not be earning extra game time.

I think this month will be an interesting experience for all of us. I anticipate lots of reading and family board games. I anticipate some frustrations from the kids on rainy days. I anticipate I will be frustrated when I "need" to text Allen love notes or ask for encouragement or mentally check out at the end of a long day (or in the middle of the afternoon when the kids won't quit fighting). I have been blessed SO much with all the other experiments, so I am anxious to jump into this one!