This month's media fast has turned out to be difficult. Not the same type of difficult as with the food, but there are many gray areas and I'm having to make decision based on my original intentions: to give time to my family and God, rather than to media. This is also the first month that I feel like I've "cheated" a bit, but I don't feel too bad about those times.
I did not plan to use my cell phone, but I quickly learned that there are a few challenges with that when some of my friends only know that number. Also, there have been times they needed to reach me immediately while I was away from home. I had not planned on texting, but, again, there have been a few times that it was the most practical way to communicate that there was a box of books on my porch on a rainy day. I had not planned on using anything on my cell phone except the weather app, but I have used the address book, the GPS, the alarm clock, and the calendar multiple times since I do not have a working watch, a current map, or another list of phone numbers. Nonetheless, I am not constantly playing on my phone when I wait in lines, and I'm enjoying the extra time to read a book.
As for the catalogs and magazines, I'm mostly sticking to that, but the other day, I was helping Will paint a project and I couldn't remember whether I needed to use the acrylic gloss or gel to make the paint transparent. I quickly asked Allen if I could get online to check, but then remembered I had the art catalog handy. Before I realized it, I was flipping through a catalog looking for the gloss and gel descriptions. I found my answer, and Allen convinced me I wasn't shopping or dreaming about shopping, so I was okay. Will has reminded me weekly that I shouldn't be reading the grocery store flier that comes in the mail, but I only do that when I'm working on my grocery list and trying to purchase wisely.
TV and video games? I haven't missed them a bit. In fact, I keep telling Allen it feels like we are on vacation because evenings are really quite relaxing now (especially with warm April breezes coming through the windows.) Allen and I have read a lot, but we also play board games almost every evening. It has been a great way to wind down the day spending quality time together. The kids don't seem to be missing cartoons or video games too much. I can only think of two times I've been asked about playing Leapster. When I reminded them it was April, they ran off to play Legos or swing outside. Our dining room has turning into the Lego station for now, as the Legos are played with constantly -- before school, after school, after dinner.
The hardest part about not using my cell phone is that I miss my friends. It is hard for us to connect the few minutes a day I am home alone (especially since they are doing similar media fasts.) We used to coordinate dinner together via texting, but when four of us are only checking email twice a day, it takes all week to plan something. I miss talking to Ema -- we often spoke as I was driving around town.
Checking email twice a day has been the grayest area. Does it count as checking it twice if I look at the email list, leave the computer on and open, then walk by thirty minutes later and see another I need to reply to? One day soon after Maddie's head injury, her teacher emailed me four times in a morning about Maddie having a headache, then Maddie being okay, then back to a bad headache and going to the nurse. When I read the emails (all at once) I felt awful that I hadn't been communicating with her, and I left the email open all afternoon to keep track of what was going on with Maddie. In the meantime, I had made several calls to the doctor and learned that we should expect headaches and dizziness for a few months. Will's teachers communicate with me via email, too, and when I've had a question about his assignments, I email them, but I can't wait twelve hours to read their response when he needs to get his work done before dinnertime. SO... my email gray areas have been redefined a bit. I do sometimes check it more than twice a day.
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