Canning my iPhone

With the new year I’m painfully aware of all the things I haven’t done since last January. Lose 80 pounds (gain ten, lose ten, gain ten, lose ten about eight times), keep my toilets clean for an entire week, stop screaming at people, teach my kids the words to Love At Home. All big fat fails.

I did manage to…um…I mean we have been better at…yeah. Wow. I can’t think of one thing we’ve improved on since last year.

So this year I’m keeping it super simple and I think I will only set one goal. Put down my phone. If I can put my phone away while I’m in the house and the car I will be a better person.

When was the last time you were punching out a text and realized that your kid was trying desperately to tell you something, but all you really wanted to do was flick them in the forehead so they’d let you finish your thought? That happens to me at least once a day.

When was the last time you stood next to a sink full of dirty dishes and read Facebook updates until you ran out of time to do chores and had to drive car pool?

When was the last time you laid in bed next to your lover, back to back, and wasted precious time surfing Pinterest or Amazon or playing Scrabble? I can’t help thinking that the day might come when I won’t have that man in bed with me, will I regret those hours I could have spent making out?

So this year I’m going to can my iPhone. Literally, I have a can in the kitchen and I’m going to leave it there between the hours of seven and noon (unless I have to leave the house), then between two and eight when I work Mommy Swing Shift.

We will practice the piano and the trumpet together.

We will have evening Let’s Get to Heaven lessons on a more regular basis (we read scriptures in the morning but you know how much of that sinks in).

I will finish at least one manuscript by June.

I will teach Georgia to read (gulp) before kindergarten since she asks me everyday. Okay, I MIGHT teach Georgia to read. Maybe I’ll just make sure she knows her letters…we’ll do something.

I will not be on the phone when my kids get home from school, nor will I answer phone calls unless its an emergency (aka my mother calls) or Jason, or a number I don’t know because it might be the Publisher’s Clearing House and I don’t want to miss that call.

We will get our crap together and set a better technological example for our kids. I don’t want them to grow up picturing their mother and father on their phones all the time, I just can’t stand that thought.

I feel desperate this year to be a better parent. There are so many ways we can improve in this area of our life it makes my head spin. I want to make sure I spend one on one every day with each kid teaching them something they want to learn…or should I say, forcing them to learn something so they can spend time with me.

It’s going too fast, I don’t want to miss out or waste my time yelling at them to leave me alone. This year I’m going to fix one thing: I will be more present for my family.