How to start enjoying spending time with your kids and stop feeling guilty

So I have to tell you, the fam and I went on a trip today and had THE BEST TIME BEING TOGETHER! We tried a new trick and it worked!!!!!!

Find yourself glued to your screen and merely "mhm"ing your kids and husband?

Gotta tell you guys, that's kinda where I've been recently. "I just gotta text X. Just gotta check our stats. Just gotta finalize the playdate...."

Reality? I'm missing out on life y'all! Missing the sweet things the kids are saying, missing out on being awesome mom, missing out on answering questions, missing out on being present in my own life!

Here is what hasn't worked for me:

-make a time where you put the phone away

-turn the phone off

-schedule kid time

Sorry, it's too tempting! It's too urgent! Too much is going on, and the extreme thing just doesn't work for me!

Do I like that? Am I proud of it? No No No!

I recently read an article in Vogue Magazine, of all places, that spoke about this topic, and I found some incredible tips that have been working wonders for me and I wanted to share with you!

1) Put your phone on airplane mode! I love this! I still can take pics and videos of my kids on trips but the phone can't ring and no one can reach me! It is so empowering and yet still not forcing a clean break for the phone addiction, so psychologically it's way easier!

This is what we did today! Hubby and I put the phone on airplane mode when we got to our destination. We still felt "secure" because our phones were alive and well in our pockets (what a sick twisted world, but let's call a spade a spade!) but they were not usable for much of anything! And you know what happened? An entire hour of family singing together while paddle boating on the lake! Everyone had FUN! Everyone was present! And while kids were positively glowing, my husband and I just felt like the best parents on planet earth because we were sooo present!

Now what I loved about this is that it is a very limited amount of time- one hour- and we weren't pressuring ourselves to turn it off or put it away! I'm telling you, it was a kind and soft approach to detox!

2) Put your phone on grey scale! It's just way less fun to look at and waste time on! Love this one! I'll try it out and let you know how it goes!

Meanwhile, I'll be doing many a pretend airplane rides in the near future, bon voyage~

Xoxo, 

Tsippi