BREAKING UP WITH MY PHONE

The other day, my son made a deliberate move to the coffee table to pull himself up and reach for my cellphone. I quickly grabbed it and said, "Not for babies." The next day, I was standing next to Teal while he sat in his chair, eating breakfast. I was totally immersed in my phone and when I glanced up, he was staring at me with the sweetest, most quizzical smile on his face.

My. heart. shattered.

I immediately felt horrible and 100 percent disgusted with myself. How could I be so engrossed in my phone and totally ignoring my precious child who was looking at me like I hung the moon?! He's this age only once and one day he won't want to be loved and hugged and have all the attention on him and here I was staring at my phone like whatever was on Instagram was SO much more important then the sweet boy staring back at me.

I'm getting a fresh wave of irritation just thinking about it now.

That was it. I immediately put my phone down, on the opposite counter and didn't touch it for over an hour or two. A few days later I was listening to the radio and the Air1 Radio Deejay, Mandy, said she was breaking up with her phone for the summer.

My heart was open and listening and new this was a sign.

I need to be a better example to my child. I also don't want him to think that he too needs to have his face buried in a phone all the time. I want him to play in the dirt, ride his horse, run wild through our pastures, build forts, anything but sit inside and be consumed by technology. Here I preach about how I don't want screens in front of my kids face, how I am not a proponent of iPads or any sort of device for children, how my kids aren't getting cellphones until high school and yet... yet when he's awake, I am constantly checking my social media accounts.

That one or two sentences from the radio deejay had me reeling. I was going to effectively "break up" with my cellphone. Maybe that's not the term I really need... I think maybe Im going to just say I am cutting back my cell-oric intake (get it?!) and going on a cellphone diet.

Starting today, while my child is awake and in my care, I am no longer going to be using any social media. My cellphone use will be limited to:

• Sending Occasional and Necessary Text Messages

• Taking Photos (when he's being cute because hello... that needs to be captured)

• Listening to Audiobooks, Podcasts, and Music

• Making/Receiving Phone Calls

Like any diet, this is going to be hard and take discipline. I'm going to be realistic and not get too hard on my self, at first, for slipping up as long as I try to correct this issue. I just think that the world isn't going to end if I don't get to an email or answer a Insta comment right away.

So, who's in? Who needs a phone cleanse?!