I am struggling with screen time. 

As a person and as a parent.   

This was never much of an issue at our home. 

Sometime back, we even lived without the tele for a while, rewarding ourselves with a weekend movie at home or on the big screen. It was weird for a week, and then we kind of managed to entertain ourselves. We realised we were having more conversations, reading a bit more, stepping out into the park more often and doing things we otherwise would not have.   

But then came Amazon Prime and Netflix to our lives and the never ending, exciting shows and movies that I had to catch up on.  And even as I put those aside, there is work email to check, my blog to write, FB, insta, twitter, WhatsApp, staying in touch with people on the other side of the world… All in all, everything I do involves my cellphone or my laptop.   

From the moment I wake up, to checking on football classes to meal deliveries & groceries, to the middle of the night reads as the nebuliser whirs on, I am on my screen.  In the beginning it was a need, now it feels like an ailment. I am hooked constantly, incessantly!

And to make it worse, I am sure my kids are watching me too.  It also seems that my son now calls me at work everyday only to check if he can ‘watch’!

The screen is taking us away from each other.  We are together in the same space and yet in separate worlds and separate conversations… And in an attempt to reach out to those away, I am pushing away those next to me. I see myself ignoring my son’s ramble, my little one’s whining… Even when I am there, I am not.   

In an attempt to keep track of the world, I am not being able to keep track of life.  So, I reached out for help from another mommy blogger I look upto, Rachel Macy Stafford, The Hands-Free-Mama. 

Sure enough, her words help me figure it’s time to get back on track.  I may not get there soon, but today seems like a good enough day to start.  I am not sure I won’t look at the phone altogether, but I’ll try by looking into their eyes as we speak. 

KEEPING TRACK OF LIFE MANIFESTO:   

Not the digits on the scale
Not the numbers in my salary
Not the speed at which I respond to a text message
Not the square footage of my home
Not the circumference of my waist
Not the number of tasks I accomplish in a day
Not the markings on my social calendar
Not the volume of extracurricular duties I juggle all at once

Instead
I’m keeping track of life

I’m making the moments count …
In the kisses
In the hugs
In the words of my loved ones that ease my cluttered mind

I’m finding joy in the now …
In the blessings
In the do-nothing moments
In the sacred pauses of life that heal my frenzied soul

I’m keeping track of life
By cupping it in my two free hands

Because I don’t want to miss a childhood
a marriage
a friendship
or the moments that make life worth living

I’m keeping track of life
Because now I see what’s important cannot be measured, purchased, or checked off a list
It must be felt through the open hands and heart of an awakened soul

by Rachel Macy Stafford from the book #handsfreelife