It is so easy for me to get wrapped up in it, and why not? Facebook sends me notifications when people message me or like my photos. Why wouldn't I want to check it right away? Facebook in general isn't bad but I felt God saying "Audra, you are being consumed by this. Can you get rid of it and replace it with me or spending time with your daughter? "
Wow. Yes I found myself checking every notification in the middle of doing anything. I would hear my daughter saying "mom, mommy, mom, look at me!" Ugh....I don't want to be that way! I want to enjoy every second with her. I do not want to look back in 10 years and think about all I missed out on because my face was in my Facebook! I recently saw a cartoon sketch of two different scenarios of a father and son. On the left side was the son about age 5 with a sad look on his face trying to get his dads attention but he was too busy on his phone and said "Not now son, I'm busy." Then on the right side it was the same father and son fast forward 10-12 years and it was now the Dad with a sad look on his face trying to get his sons attention, but the son had his face in his phone, headphones on and said, "Not now dad, I'm busy."
I recently went to the mall with a friend and while we were there we decided to play in the children's area for a while. This area is enclosed except for one section where the kids come in and out. There was a mom sitting down by the entrance looking at her phone (I am guilty of this too) and not paying attention to her kids. The kids were fine and playing nicely with ours but in an instance I see her little 1 1/2 year old run out of the play area and I look at her to see if she noticed and she was still looking at her phone. I panic and wondered if I should go after the kid. I watched for a bit and finally the child comes back in. The toddler did this 3 times in a matter of 10 min and the mom didn't even notice, she never looked up from her phone. This kid could have been to the other end of the mall by the time she realized her child was gone. This was my wake up call. "OK God, I get it! I said. Just like texting and driving, things can happen in a matter of seconds!
I thought about going getting rid of my smart phone and going back to a non-smartphone (what would you call these phones? they are so uncommon now). I got out my old blackberry and got it ready to switch but then I started having second thoughts. I like everything on my phone. I use the map, calendar, radio, pictures, family videos...etc. Do I give all those up too? After talking with my husband he suggested that I just learn how to manage my time on Facebook instead of completely getting rid of my phone. So I came up with this plan. I am going to delete my Facebook app from my phone for one month. I will reevaluate in one month and see if I need to make further adjustments on my phone usage. And if I feel I need to take further action I might go back to my non-smartphone.
Is there anything in your life doing the same thing? We are social media generation and I am not saying it is bad. It is good if we use it the right way. For me I wasn't using it the right way and I was being consumed by it and it was affecting my parenting. Will you do this with me? Lets me parents, friends, family who are invested and engaged in each others lives. Lets spend our extra time being consumed by God and filling our children's life with the great things God has given us, time with each other! Lets not miss out!!
