Turn Off and Tune In

Gabo was sitting on my lap slouched forward slightly, singing to his feet. I was staring like a Zombie at the "important" news on Facebook. Suddenly a light switch in my brain turned on. I needed to turn off the computer and soak in the adorable moment.

Later I posted a status report. After all, everyone needs to know how cute my child is. A short time later my husband read my status and inquired about the moment. Where had he been? Was he on the phone with his mother? No, he was across the room using the other computer. I wondered how many of these moments I lose out on when I get lost in the status reports.

When I was working full time I feel that I did a better job of having true quality time with my son. I missed so many hours of the day with him that I was going to make every moment count. Now that I am home full time with him I am concerned that I may have lost sight of that.

A friend of mine recently told me about a rule in her home. No screen time after 7 pm. She works full time and often attends meetings at night. She wants to be sure that the time she has with her family counts.

I think this is a great rule. We should implement such a rule when the kids get older. Not only for our children but for ourselves. Spending time in front of a screen has become our adult time as well, watching Netflix or Food Network together. Recently, after a wonderful anniversary date, we both settled into our seats across the room from each other with our respective computers. I sent my husband a Facebook message. He replied instantly.

In the meantime I need to set limits for myself. I need to set limits with how much I am tuned into a screen and how much I use the screen as a babysitter so that I can do household chores. It is easy to put our toddler in front of the computer. It is not easy to pull him away from it.

I know that I can't use this as an excuse to stop doing household chores, although I feel it makes a pretty good argument. I do think that there are many times that I could turn off the computer and my phone and just focus on my children. There are many hours in the day, too many I think when I am filling them all with household tasks. There is no reason why I can't fully devote some of them to my children without distractions.

I need to find time to sit on the floor and play board games, superheroes or matchbox cars. I need to sit and make faces at Gabriel and kiss his belly until he laughs. Ten years from now both will be busy with school, friends and other activities. These are the moments that I need to grab hold of and sear into my memory bank. I need to spend more time with the computer, the kitchen sink and the washing machine turned off so I can be completely tuned in to the beautiful family around me.