talk about a mixed bag

I've been social-internetless for the last 7 or so weeks.

By social-internet, I mean mainly that I haven't been on facebook. I did not make myself give up wikipedia-ing the eating habits of various bugs, which I do, an average of once daily, because of questions for the myriad of bug collectors I have around here. I haven't been facebooking. I had not planned on giving up blogging, but it just sort of happened. Why? Because I didn't sit down at the computer to 'quickly check facebook' and end up remembering that I really needed to update this little ol' blog here for fear that my children not have ANY record of their childhood.

So, no facebook and no blogging, and no really reading of blogs. Basically, my only computer time has been at night, with Paul, watching the latest Community on Hulu after the children are in bed and we are literally too tired to talk. We just hold hands and make grunting sounds at the television (computer) indicating whether we think it is funny or not. Which lately, it has not been.

So, did this unplugged (or half-plugged) existence revolutionize our lives? Did it make us feel disconnected? Did we craft more and visit more and play more board games? Were we out of the loop?

Yes.

I missed a couple of engagement and pregnancy announcements that were made via facebook, and it did sort of make me feel a bit left out. I did pray more. I did read more. Most importantly, I did play more with my children.

Since we homeschool, we are together a lot. We 'do school' for a while each morning, and then at some point, we take a break. During this break, the children play; usually, I'd catch up on email, and inevitably end up searching for creative new recipes or reading about the potty training woes of my friends or researching the latest in latin curricula. None of these is bad. At all.

But over the last few weeks, I've done a lot more playing. Chutes and Ladders (the worst game EVER), Set (the best game EVER), or just I was the patient to Ada's doctor and Eason's nurse. Or I actually got down on the floor and built blocks with Collins, much to his delight.

I like the unplugged feel.

But, I remain fixed in my "everything in moderation" philosophy about the intranets. It's not poison and it's not life. It's yet another thing. Familys are not made or broken, and neither are friendships, based on the internet. There are many a families that spent the entire 1950s and 1960s at home baking bread together who do not speak more than twice a year, and there are families now that are 'connected' and that leads to exactly that - being more connected than they would otherwise be.

I like to hear that others are having potty training woes (Collins's training is on the horizon and I ain't pleased one bit about it); I like to be able to sit and have 'screen time' that is my own; I like to see pictures of my friends' weddings that I could not make because they got married in, you know, the British Virgin Islands or some such.

I also like to build blocks with my baby; talk about a mixed bag.

So, an Easter toast:

To the via media.


Alleluia, Christ is Risen!
The Lord is Risen indeed, Halelujah!