It’s been a long time since I’ve been a fun mom. I’ve been really struggling with my ability to focus for the past few months, and it’s lead to a lot of overwhelm and frustration. But today we started another screen time fast, and I think it’s exactly what we need: A break from distractions. For the boys, the biggest distraction is video games and TV. For me, it’s TV, social media, and blog stuff. So for this week, we aren’t having any TV or video games. The only time we can be on screens is if we are researching something together, or using screens for gospel study or education. Or to “do taxes and pay bills” (Kender’s words).
This fast has been a long time coming, but I couldn’t get myself in the right mindset to do it. I have to be really committed, and in a good place spiritually, or I won’t stick to it. We watched a documentary with the boys called “Screened Out.” It’s about screen time addiction, and it was pretty eye opening. I was hoping it would make the boys want to stop playing video games, but what it really did was make me take a good look in the mirror. I don’t play video games or watch a ton of TV, but I’m still on a screen too much (which causes me to be distracted, and not the best wife and mother that I can be).
I’m allowing myself to post on this blog during the fast as a method of journaling. I’ve tried keeping private journals, and it just doesn’t work for me. If I know that no one will ever read it, all I ever do is complain. Knowing that someone might read these words helps me to keep things a little less whiney, and try a little harder to be hopeful and look for the good. It’s essentially a mental health exercise for me. I’m taking a break from my homesteading blog though (Mint & Clover). It’s a lot of fun to work on, but also a big distraction.
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| Yoga is way too boring for Mason… It’s a great way to get him to bed though! |
On the first day of our screen time fast, we colored, made roads for toy cars out of cardboard, and did yoga and meditation together. I was really surprised by how well the boys did with the yoga, and I was really impressed with myself for having patience with them! Mason did the poses with us for the first few minutes, but then he got bored and decided to climb on me. Rhett volunteered to be his horsey, and all was well.
Then Kender asked if we could try meditation, and that was actually really amazing to do with them. Mason fell asleep while we were finishing up our yoga, we Kender, Rhett, and I laid together on the living room rug and listened to a 10 minute guided meditation clip on the Down Dog app. Rhett held my hand, and we all felt relaxed and rejuvenated. I always think meditation sounds dumb and boring, but whenever I actually give it a shot, I’m always impressed with the results!
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