A day disconnected was born out of a silent desperation.
I'm desperate for a day off, for more time with my son, more me time, and more chores around the house time, more family time, yard time, outside time.
Sawyer is desperate for my undivided attention, for a totally screen free day, for more fresh air, more hands on play, more books, more adventures and living room forts.
Being a full time mom, a yoga instructor, a small business owner working from home, and living in a time when people are so connected through emails, the internet, texting, corresponding, it all produces a very busy lifestyle.
If you know me well, you might know I'm a little introverted. I experience a fair share of (healthy) anxiety (especially during the busy seasons) due to constantly feeling on-call and working seven days a week. I love being busy, don't get me wrong, I thrive on it, but because my schedule is so unstructured I can often feel overwhelmed by my work.
I worry that I'm not giving Sawyer the attention he deserves. He never hesitates to show his distaste for my being on the computer during the day, and it makes me feel sad. I don't want him to feel like I'm constantly working or always distracted.
I want Sawyer to have more time living a childhood that more closely resembles my own, without Netflix or iPhones but with more arts and projects, more imagination, more learning.
One afternoon out of the blue, an idea popped into my head. I wondered if I could schedule one day off during the week (because I often work the weekends) and devote it entirely to family and to myself. A 24 hour sabbatical from the internet and the computer.
The more I mulled it over, the less farfetched it seemed.
I sat down on the floor with a blue pencil crayon and a blank pad of paper and brain mapped my idea. We would turn all the computers and TVs off for the day. The iPad gets put away up on the shelf, as does the iPhone, though with the ringer kept on (no landline, emergencies and such) but no texting and no answering notifications unless absolutely dire!
I could devote my whole day to Sawyer, totally present and completely in the moment. I could spend some quality time teaching my little one his colours and numbers and ABC's. A whole day dedicated to hands on learning and exploring. And while baby sleeps, I can finally finish the ensuite renovations, or I can read a book, bake, or winter prep the garden. All the things that I never make any time for because there's always other things taking precedent.
What really sold me though, was the potential benefits for Sawyer. I'm so grateful to have the kind of freedom in my schedule that I'm actually able to plan this into our calendar, because I know how special this time can be for us.
From this day forward, I'm officially claiming Tuesdays for my one day a week, disconnected.
Come Wednesday morning I'll attend to all my correspondences, catch up on notifications, and publish a sweet little photo post documenting our day - assuming we take photos! - and I believe we'll all lead happier, fuller lives because of it.
Signing off and shutting this beast down.
I'll be back on hump day!
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