Unwind or Unplug?

It has become apparent to us that some things are not missed until they are taken from us. But, how often do we realize that some things are not necessary until they are gone, too?

When Jay gets home from work, or home from anything for that matter, he changes into his shorts and sits in his La-Z-Boy recliner.  The T.V. comes on, the laptop comes out, and the cell phone gets plugged in to recharge.

When Madelyn gets home from school, she gets thirty minutes to 'unwind' before homework and chores. She pulls out the iPad and watches NetFlix.

Hannah loves Barbie. She turns her T.V. on and puts a Barbie DVD in herself. She tunes the world out for about twenty minutes, then plays with her Barbie dolls while watching the movie.

When I am not with Audrey, who has proven to be pretty difficult this past week, I am checking messages on the computer, working on my blog, or playing on Pinterest.com.

We all have our vices. We all need something to help mellow us out from our day.  If I didn't have a family to care for, and I am not saying that I don't adore my family, I would be out walking or going to aerobics classes at the gym. I love that stuff. But how many of these vices do we really need?

Yes, technology is great, and yes, there are stories out there about how it is starting to isolate family members from each other. Yesterday was a great example, because our power went out for three hours.

Jay was livid. His sports analysis on the T.V. was gone. He couldn't surf the web because the router couldn't function without electricity.  He had his phone. But the battery was near dead.

And the air conditioner shut off. It was in mid- to upper-ninetys out.

Hannah came screaming out of her room, "My T.V. is broken!"  She tried to turn Jay's on. It didn't work. She got upset again.

I just looked at my family.  Madelyn and I were doing her homework at the table. She listened to the expletives coming from her father and watched Hannah's temper tantrum in awe.

"This is terrible," I said. Every one agreed with me. This housing was in such shambles that they can't keep the power on, was the consent.  That wasn't what I was commenting on. I was ashamed of the way my family was behaving.

"Well, we get to interact with each other for entertainment, now. How about that?" I stated it pretty matter-of-factly.

Jay got up and went to the bedroom. He announced that he had a headache.

Hannah, through tears and gasping sobs, said, "Alright."

Madelyn was excited.

But Audrey had lost her last paci. So I had to load the kids up and take them to Wal-Mart for a fresh batch. We enjoyed each other on that trip. There was nothing for us to rush home to. No television. No video games. No iPad. Just darkness and our senses of humor. We grabbed McDonald's on the way back and ate at our table and actually had a conversation. We could hear each other because the T.V. wasn't blaring sports at us. It was great.

Afterwards, I snapped some of those glow sticks and put them in the bubble bath for the girls. They had a blast chasing them in the dark. It was amazing how much they illuminated the room!

I was really sad that Jay wasn't feeling well enough to enjoy our time together. He was playing soduku on his phone, waiting for his ibuprofen to kick in in the bedroom.

I may flip the breaker tonight. Just to have some quality time with my family.

We'll see if Jay gets another headache.