On my week off...

    I took a hiatus from the computer….  I had realized, for quite a while, that I was devoting way too much time to playing around on the computer and way too little time playing with my children.  I was aware of my mixed up priorities.  Aware enough even to promise myself I would spend less time on the computer tomorrow but, though I knew I should, I kept putting off the follow-through on my promise.  Finally, I declared a complete and total hiatus- no e-mail, no Facebook, no blogs, not even a few minutes to download pictures from my camera’s memory card.  I avoided the computer entirely for 6 straight days.  Tim was kind enough to give me the e-mail updates (in all that time, I received only one personal e-mail, which I returned with an old fashioned phone call to a dear friend I had not spoken to in months).   As for Facebook,  it did not even seem to notice my absence.  And, I did not miss it at all.   In fact, to my surprise “unplugging” was easier than I thought.  After months and months of computer overload- e-mail, Facebook, blogging- writing my own and reading other people’s, research on school books and for school projects, looking up crafts, and various other important matters, I realized I really didn’t need the computer all that much. 
    So, though I did not miss out on much in the world wide web, there are a few highlights of life that I did miss sharing on my blog….  

• At now ten months old, baby took her first steps- two actually, right to me!  What excitement it caused in the house as we all cheered excitedly for this amazing milestone!  Since then, of course, her siblings feel the need to constantly stand her up in the middle of the room and try to coax her to step their way.  She has not been very cooperative but, despite the thrill of seeing her “walk”, I am no hurry to have her really up and going!

• I got to spend time with my sister and her family while they were visiting from up north for a few weeks.  Seeing my nephew and niece and watching all the “cousins” play together was a beautiful blessing and I have a million pictures to download!

• While our out-of-town family was visiting we all went swimming together.   I have not had so much fun in a long time. I jumped in the pool over and over, with my nephew and my children-- looking very silly, I'm sure, but enjoying every minute of it!

• I cleaned out my junk drawer after years of just shoving in more and more stuff.  I finally had the time and it is amazing how satisfying it is to open it now and stare in wonder at how organized and neat it looks.  What an accomplishment!

• I also cleaned out my classroom, almost as monumental a job as the junk drawer.  It now looks like a different place and I feel a little more confident about starting school again in a month or so.

• To follow up her adorable and amazing first steps, baby danced for the first time.  It was so cute to watch her, unexpectedly, shake her little hands and wiggle her chubby legs in time with “Old MacDonald had a Farm”.  These moments are just priceless.

I don’t know if the time I have taken off the computer the past few days will help me to moderate my time better in the future but, for now, I am grateful for the time I spent in the “real world” this week.  I have enjoyed my children a little more, I have caught up on a few jobs I had been neglecting, and I have felt better about myself and my life than I had in a long time.  Computers have allowed us a window to so many things we would otherwise be isolated from, but they can also be the cause of a lot of isolation and wasted time.  Somehow, I had unintentionally allowed my life to get disordered, in large part because of the computer and the lure of cyberspace.  I pray that I will not lose sight of my priorities again and that my time in cyberspace will be well spent and well ordered from now on.