Screen Time

Happy Monday y'all! Today has been one of those days where I feel like I've been on my phone all day long. I've had a ton of messages and anywho, it just feels like I've been on my phone all day responding to people. I definitely need to put the phone down tomorrow. I've been trying to be better about it now that I get my weekly report every Sunday of how much time I spend on my phone every day. Most of the time I just pick my phone up out of habit and look at it for a few seconds then set it down. I'm trying to be better about keeping my phone away from me and when I do pick it up, I actually spend 5 minutes looking at it, then set it down and leave it for a few hours vs picking it up constantly and looking at it for a few seconds out of habit. I will say, ever since I started getting my weekly screen time report with the new iPhone update, I have been pleasantly surprised at how much time it says I spend on my phone. It's not as much as I would have guessed but even still, I want it to be less.
Speaking of screen time, let's talk about iPads. Because I'm beginning to loathe them. Campbell and Bennett have always had iPads but the only time they've ever used them was on road trips to Little Rock. I've downloaded several shows for them to watch and that's how they entertain themselves during the 3 hour drive. However, about 2ish months ago they both discovered YouTube and I can't stand it anymore. They want to watch YouTube all the time and I swear it makes Campbell SO grumpy. It used to work to be like "uh oh it ran out of battery! Oh well...." and that was the end of iPad time but now they know how to charge the thing up and sit there with it plugged into a wall. I told Scott I am OVER the iPad. They have a playroom full of toys and it's ridiculous to watch them sitting in their playroom with their face in their iPads watching other kids play with toys. I've seriously had enough. Seeing as how we've gone from no iPad to iPad over the last few months and literally watching how much it affects their behavior, I'm calling the screen time a big fat no from now on. They can watch it when we drive to Little Rock but otherwise, the iPads are staying hidden in a special drawer that they can't reach. And that's my rant for the day.
Sometimes I wish we lived in a world where iPhones and iPads didn't exist. I feel like I come from a really special generation because I know exactly what it's like to live in a world without technology but I was also the first of my generation to be introduced to technology/social media which is neat. They call you a 'Xennial' if you were born between 1977 and 1985, not a millennial, because we are the few that had an analog childhood and a digital adulthood. We didn't grow up with technology but we know how to use it as if we did.
On the one hand, I love social media. I think it's so great that I'm able to keep up with so many people that I otherwise wouldn't. I enjoy seeing peoples lives on Facebook and Instagram. Their cute families, where they vacation, what they ate for lunch that day....I like it all. Plus, being a stay at home mom can sometimes be mundane and boring and social media allows me to connect with other adults, chat, and have moments of feeling like I'm not alone all day. I think social media can be such a positive thing.
On the other hand, what would life look like and be like if it didn't exist? How would my day be different and what would I do with that time? I love days where I'm so busy that I don't have time to look at social media until I'm laying in bed, getting ready to go to sleep. I have several days a week like that and they just feel more productive, more interesting, and all around better. But I also have about 2 days a week where I have nothing to do and I feel like I pick my phone up so much more on days like that. And it's not just social media that I'm using my phone for. It's anything and everything on the internet. Shopping, reading articles, researching, finding recipes....literally everything.

I guess the whole point in all of this is: seeing how the screen has affected my own kids behavior since they've been introduced to it, how has it affected mine? How would I be different with no screen time? How would I utilize my day and how much more productive would I be? Do you spend too much time on your phone and wish you didn't? Do you think social media is positive or negative for you personally? Drop a comment and lets chat about it!