My five-year-old has gotten really into commercials. When I did a post-flu cleanup of the house last week, Abby asked, “Did you use Lysol or bleach?”
“Lysol.”
“Oh good! Lysol is better than bleach at killing cold and flu germs! 99 percent!”
I heard daily about when we could expect Minnie-rella to first broadcast on television, and she loves to point out what the TV is spouting as the preferred snack of the day.
The other night, she was trying to pin me down about when we could go to visit Sea World. As she started to walk away she said, “You know, Mom, life is on Facebook.”
I told her that what the commercial had said was to “like us on Facebook.”
She was adamant. “NO, Mommy. LIFE is on FACEBOOK.”
I can’t really argue with her. Facebook is a big part of my day, for work, my personal life and for blogging. As someone who often telecommutes, Facebook is sometimes the only adult interaction that I have in a day. Although it can drive me crazy, I’ve enjoyed keeping up with friends and family in a way I couldn’t otherwise.
Lately, though, life has been on Facebook. For a while, I had set up a good routine: I cut being online out of my evenings. When the kids came home, the devices were put aside. I might do a quick check after they went to bed, but then everything was turned off and I’d focus on other things for the night.
I found that not only was I more present with the kids, I was in a better mood after they went to bed as well. I was more relaxed, less twitchy from constant scrolling and you know what? I wasn’t missing anything, either.
I even managed to read a couple of REAL books!
I went to a social content marketing conference yesterday and learned that we check our devices an average of 110 times in a day. While I need to be tapped in throughout the day for work, I do not need to be doing the constant mindless scroll.
So I’m going to try to reinstate my old routine – I’m going to try to take life off Facebook again, at least in the evenings. I already know that I’ll feel better for doing it.
Do you have trouble stepping offline?
