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How we survived being switched off technology as we disconnected to reconnect

We survived! Yes, 48 hours without technology. All switched off and disconnected in order to reconnect.

In actual fact I didn’t find it too hard as my weekend was crazy busy. Had I been sitting at home and not going to 3 different football matches, a lunch, a dinner, the shops and an afternoon of family in my home for Mothers Day I may have coped a little less easily.

Here is some of what disconnecting meant for us as a family:

  • I had to use a Melways to look up an address! There was no googling and going straight to google maps
  • I could not tweet to the world how fantastic my football team played on Friday night
  • Mr 9 got out the lego which he hadn’t done for a long time
  • I had to check the weather in the newspaper
  • Mr 11 had a slight meltdown on Saturday night. He couldn’t understand why we have technology if we arn’t allowed to use it. He thought it was a ridiculous idea in the first place, not something he had actually even agreed to (there was no choice my friend) and only stopped the whinging when I threatened to film him and put it on my blog for evidence as to why we should all disconnect at times. He soon got over it and went and jumped on the trampoline
  • My husband may have struggled not being able to check his dream team scores and checking race results
  • I read the whole of the weekend paper from front to back
  • I did have to check my Heartfelt page to organise an urgent photography session and could see that I had messages on Facebook ย and had been tagged in photos. It was really quite hard to ignore them (I did though) and there was a slight sense of missing out on something
  • It was nice not to have to keep tabs on time limits and who was on what device or game and for how long etc
  • It was especially great not to listen to the “Spongebobย Squarepants’ theme song
  • All the kids were happy to go and watch each others sport rather than stay home
When the time came to reconnect, surprisingly we all didnt race back to it as fast I thought we would! I actually had to really motivate myself just to turn it all back on, read the emails, answer them, check the Facebook page, finish editing photos etc. Whilst writing this now, the 9 year old has been home over an hour and hasnt picked up any technology but instead asked if he can make some choc chip cookies! Maybe he hasn’t realised he is allowed back on!
I understand that for kids who have only lived in a world of technology , switching off altogether can be seen as difficult…..but maybe something that we can incorporate in our lives more regularly…and still survive.
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What do you or would you miss the most without technology?

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This Post Has 26 Comments

  1. While I spend a lot of my time on technology (and i love it and would hate to have to check the weather by paper) my daughter and I spend hardly any time on it together – i hope it lasts x

    1. Martine

      I think if you have a good foundation of doing lots of things together then chances are you will continue to have enough in common to keep these connections strong. And yes it was a while since I had checked the weather in the paper!

  2. Candice

    Hi Martine,

    This is a great post. I think one of most telling moments from my disCONNECT weekend was while sitting at the hairdressers and hearing a mobile phone make the message noise, followed closely by the mass response of all around me to check if it was their phone. I could relax knowing I was turned off. When did we become slaves to our phones and its annoying beeps?

    Thanks again for all your support of our cause – Edmund Rice Camps.

    Cheers,
    Candice

    1. Martine

      Thanks Candice….and my pleasure. What a fabulous cause.

  3. Looks like a fab day – we must do that soon – the kids are wanting to play games on phones because see the hubby and lesser extend me on mine !

    1. Martine

      Yes we are often showing them the way too!

  4. EssentiallyJess

    Well done Martine!
    Boatman and I joked on the weekend that we should get rid of every single toy in our home and just buy the kids an ipad each, since that’s all they want to play anyway!! I know they would struggle with this just as much as I would.
    I think it’s amazing that you did it. I’d be stuck though cause even my book is on an ereader!!

    1. Martine

      Thanks Jess. I dont think you are alone in thinking that about your kids. Super amazing work on your book..well done author friend x

  5. Good to hear all about it, very positive. Well, I have done a bit of disconnecting of myself. No more Iphone or ipad in the bedroom, back to the radio alarm. Am sleeping more already. Should have done this a long time ago.

    1. Martine

      Thanks Seana. I read recently that the phone is the first and last thing most people see at night and then again in the morning!I must say I have been kept awake a lot longer than usual when getting caught up with something online. Maybe going back to the radio alarm not such a bad idea. And thankyou so much for your support of the charity. x

  6. BossyMummy

    Well done for turning off. I would love to do this once a month,, but don’t know if I would get the necessary buyin from Husband ๐Ÿ™‚ might have to work on him!

    Sadly, The thing I struggle with is not being able to get an answer to whatever mundane thing I am pondering at the time straight away! It’s hard to believe only 18 years ago most people didn’t know about the Internet. I don’t know how I got through uni – ha ha – urrgh, microfiche ๐Ÿ™‚

    Hello from #teamIBOT

    1. Martine

      Yes husbands seem to be the problem! And yes I remember Uni where I had to use a typewriter to type up assignments!

  7. Donna @ NappyDaze

    I am so tempted to do the same! Problem would be my husband needs his for work basically 24/7 so it would be tough letting him be online while we weren’t Still, come Nov when things quieten down I am SO implementing this!

    1. Martine

      Yes it does make it hard with work. I guess it is about just stopping yourself from using certain sites or social networks as a way to cut back.

  8. Annie

    We did it for a whole Sunday. That is as long as we lasted. And even that wasn’t easy. 48 hours is way more impressive.

    1. Martine

      I still think giving yourselves a day is a great effort Annie.

  9. Such an awesome idea. We spend so long in front on phone and technology and at times miss the moments. Good on you for raising awareness about it xxx

    1. Martine

      Thanks Tahlia, and a good reminder to keep the balance a bit better so we dont miss those “moments”.

  10. Sabeen

    Ah good on you…sounds like you guys survived pretty okay. I think I’d miss my phone the most , amazing how addicted we are. I am inspired by your detox , might impose one around here sometime soon ๐Ÿ™‚ Have a great weekend x

    1. Martine

      Thanks Sabeen. Yes we did survive ok, but as I said had I been stuck at home all weekend with nowhere else to be I may have struggled a little more.

  11. You actually make it sound very tempting. A newspaper for the weather – how quaint! ๐Ÿ™‚ I would have to go and buy a newspaper especially – we just don’t have them in the house anymore.

    1. Martine

      Yes Rachel, we only get the weekend papers but I hardly ever get to read them!

  12. Marleisa

    Well done! How do you think you would go for the whole week? I would like to try it but I don’t think I would have a chance of talking my husband into it!

    1. Martine

      Mmmm a week ay be a bit trickier. I think when our work is based on the technology it makes it harder. I think I would have to go and escape to the bush somewhere where I had no connections!

  13. Grace

    While I know it wasn’t supposed to be, I found this post quite funny, Martine! I love how Mr11 had a melt down but then just went back to jumping on the trampoline…lol!
    I would really miss Instagram, I think. But the funny thing is, I’ve gone with days without it but didn’t think about it. I guess it’s that idea of not having the choice to be on it.

  14. Trish

    Thankfully , I am the worse offender in my house. My six year olds mainly ask in the car , for my iPad and rarely use computer at home. They go days without playing Skylanders but do like TV after school – it’s a long day for them catching the bus at 8am and not home till 4:30. So I let them chill and snack a bit before homework.
    They play with Lego every single day , I shout about picking it up , 5x a day.

    I did digital detox for most of a busy Saturday and onto a full 36hrs midnight the same Sat to Monday morning (After i put the kids on the bus and done my chores). It was very hard and made me realise what I’m missing being disconnected from my family while on devices.

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