Out of the Office October

I need a screen break.  Do you ever feel like that?  When my kids see me, I don't want them to see me staring at a screen .... phone, computer, iPad, TV, etc.  I don't think I'm the worst person with technology, but I need some real life and I decided October is the perfect time to get it.  The time just adds up, and to a kid, I bet it seems like a lot more time than it actually is.  Whether or not their perspective is accurate, what they think is important to me.  And, it's important that my kids know and see that my time is better spent with them.

Here's my objective:

The first weekend in October is General Conference.  I want to be prepared to listen and learn so a week away from electronics is going to help me be focused better and more prepared to learn.  Then, without the gadgets, I'll have the rest of the month to soak and study the things that I heard and felt.  

Furthermore, my kids and I have a lot of things we need to do to celebrate the fall and Halloween.  I want to play games, watch the season change, and help our family prepare with Abbi for her upcoming baptism.

I'm an October girl, by nature, and so I'm gonna live it up and do real things all month. 

Here are the guidelines I am going to attempt to live by:

1. If I want to use the computer, it will be only after my kids go to bed.
2. If I want to play a game (stupid Majhong), then I will get out a board game and include the kids.
3. If I want to document something, then I'll write it down in my journal.
4. If I want to talk on the phone, I'll do it before Abbi is out of school or after my kids go to bed, unless it's an emergency ... like a real emergency or in case I meet Gerrard Butler and need to tell my sisters.
5. If I want to read, I'm going to use a real book rather than my Kindle.  I know the books on my Kindle are real, but to my kids, I bet that looks a lot like "Mom's looking at a screen again" kind of thing.
6. If I want to watch a show, it will have to be after the kids go to bed.

I can see that it looks like I'm going to be trying to fit a lot into the time after the kids go to bed until I go to bed, but really, I'll just have to make a choice.  I know I'm only good for maybe two hours after they're out.  Maybe.  I'm a real person and I do real things.  That's what I'm gonna do this month, Out of the Office October.