What on earth did we do with ourselves before the Internet and the distraction of Social Media? No, I can't remember either, although I briefly recall the trend for making those dodgy macrame plant pot holders and those completely useless lantern thingys made with white paper straws ... Oh ... just me then. Never mind.
When Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web just 26 short years ago (yes, incredible as it is to believe, that is all it is) I wonder if he realised just what he was about to unleash and the effect it would have on family life the world over?
In the Barlow household, between us we own three smartphones, three tablets, two computers, three e-readers, two video games consoles and enough miscellaneous tech to sink a battleship and at any given point in the day, you can probably find one of us attached to a gadget of one kind or another. Now don't get me wrong, I am probably the worst and a self confessed social media junkie to boot. I can break out in a cold sweat if I have to go longer than an hour or so without being able to check Facebook & Instagram. I have been known to 'just pop online' to look up the metric equivalent of a cup of flour and four hours later find myself watching a You Tube tutorial on how to knit a tank top out of spaghetti ... and don't even get me started on Pinterest!
So, as part of our life changing move to Arizona, we decided to implement a weekly 'no gadget' evening, and instead find alternative activities that would allow us to spend some quality family time together. Well, I say we ... Ethan was definitely NOT in favour and voted strongly against the motion (which was obviously overruled ... unlucky... it's tough being a kid). As Mr B has been away a fair bit since we arrived, this week was the first opportunity we have had to give it a try and so we decided to break Youngest in gently and go out for dinner and a movie (which is kind of cheating I know, as it's only really swapping a small screen for a giant one, but Rome wasn't built in a day!).
It was Mr B's choice this week, and he chose the film 'San Andreas' (which if you haven't heard of it is an earthquake disaster movie set in California ... and in retrospect not the best subject matter when we have just moved to the neighbouring state!). Whilst we all really enjoyed the film (if a little far fetched in parts), relaxing it was NOT and probably ranks quite high in my most stressful films ever list! ... and breathe ...
As we were exiting the cinema I was already reaching for my phone to post a review ... Ah. Not allowed. Oh well, off for dinner then. Hmm .. wonder if there are any decent restaurants close by ... let me just check Yelp on my phone. Ah. Sigh.
Mr B said he knew somewhere not too far away, so we headed off ... to arrive at ... a Sports Bar ... really? After checking the menu and ordering food and drinks, there was a brief period of awkward silence whilst we all resisted the urge to reach for our phones to ... update statuses on Facebook/ check Sports Results/ watch game cheats on You Tube .... and then a funny thing happened. We actually started talking to each other. We discussed the film we had just seen, what you should do in an earthquake (Drop, Cover, Hold On in case you're interested) and the likelihood of a massive earthquake happening along the San Andreas fault .... erm ... not sure this is quite what I had in mind! Time to change the subject I think ...
When we got home we continued with the art of conversation (now that we had got the hang of it) discussing places that we would like to visit and things we would like to see while we are in the United States. We even made a list of future activities for 'no gadget nights' after Youngest admitted that it had 'not been as bad as he was expecting it to be' and was 'quite fun really'.
So far on our list we have Bowling; Cooking a meal together from Scratch (hmmm, been there before ... they all sloped off one by one until it was just me ... cooking dinner); Crazy Golf and a Board Games challenge (although I draw the line at Monopoly or Mouse Trap!). A small step, but one in the right direction I think and what's more we all survived. Phew!
Now, got to dash as I just need to check my Pinterest feed quickly before I go to bed (said no one ever)
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