Happy Monday! We are concluding our Summer Stunner series today. Guest blogger, Gina Planeta, gives us a peek into her family’s most recent, wondrous adventure. Warning: you may be inspired and challenged.
Unplugging. If you’ve been a SLOCA family for any length of time, chances are you’ve heard our school staff promote the idea of unplugging ourselves from our electronics to help promote relationship building. Many of us have probably even made a goal to put down our phone for a meal, an evening, or even invested in a cell phone “jail”. We all know the benefits of putting down our phones and being present, even if it’s easier said than done.
For me, unplugging is harder than I’d like to admit sometimes. I’ve had a cell phone since I was 15 and I’ve had a smartphone since I was 20. I’ve spent over a decade relying on my phone for everything from getting the news to taking pictures of my kids. While sometimes I’m successful, I recognize that I’m very much attached to my phone. While rationally I know no one has posted anything too special in the five minutes since my last social media check, it doesn’t always stop me from checking!
Thankfully, once a year or so, my family has the chance to unplug. I’m not just talking about putting down the cell phone for a bit; but, rather, days of no internet, no screen time, even no electricity. Once a year we have a profound shift in our lifestyle for a few days and nothing promotes wonder within our family than getting back to basics.
Up in the redwoods, our extended family has a cabin. It was built by my great-grandfather when my grandma was a little girl. He started with a one-room cabin and added another bedroom, a bathroom, and a large room that serves as an additional bedroom space, living room, dining room, and kitchen. It takes 40 minutes or so to get in to the cabin via an 8 mile, one lane, dirt road and our phones tend to lose reception before we hit the first mile marker. There’s no electricity at the cabin; instead, we rely on propane to turn on mantle lights, an old stove that doubles as a morning heater, and an old-school landline without call waiting or an answering machine. The kids even get some practice using an outhouse (aka the potty shed) though thankfully this one flushes!
Being at the cabin turns all of us into different people. No one asks for screen time. We eat every meal together. As the days go on, the kids explore more. They examine the rocks that line the bottom and bank of the river that flows behind the cabin. They catch, and release, different critters after giving them a quick look. They build stacks of rocks and wonder if a frog will move into the little nook they created. They check out the abandoned train station and wonder about what’s inside the buildings. They have long conversations with their cousins, grandma, great-grandma, and aunts and uncles. They read more books and play checkers together. They spend extended periods of time building LEGO sets. They engage in the world in a way that’s different from what we see at home.
It even changes us as parents. Without screens to attract my attention, I’m a more attentive and patient parent. I have more time to read and do other forms of self-care. I even embrace sharing a single bedroom with the other five members of my nuclear family Little House on the Prairie style even when it involves waking up to a kick in the head from my sleeping kindergartener.
The time away from technology opens up so many opportunities for us. My kids wonder more and become little scientists. We breathe fresh air and we’re calmer and pay more attention to our tasks and each other. We’re more mindful in our eating and make more meals. The adults play board games at night.
While we don’t always have the ability to go off-grid in this way, our yearly adventure shows the impact unplugging can have in our lives. During the school year it may not be realistic to shut off our phones for days on end, but one evening a week or a weekend day a month would be a small goal that isn’t too painful. Chances are we won’t be missing much, it’s more a mental game and maybe a battle against FOMO (fear of missing out).
It also shows the benefit of going out and exploring nature. While a cabin in the redwoods is nice, there are so many great places in our county that can turn our kids into small wonderers. Our county and those neighboring us have so many great campgrounds, beaches, and hiking trails that it’s almost foolish not to check them out. Bonus points for trails or campgrounds that don’t have reception.
A perfect anecdote from our adventure came as we headed out the dirt road. The three youngest kids were asleep and it was just our primary student up front with my husband and me. Two miles from the paved road I saw a bear. A baby black bear just feet from the side of the road. In all my years going to the cabin it was the first bear I’d ever seen, and it was so close. When we got into town and regrouped with my mom, grandma, and the kids’ bonus grandpa Lou, they were so surprised to hear about the bear. The first thing my mom asked was if I’d taken a picture. I realized not only had I not taken a picture, I hadn’t even thought about it. We were so excited just to see the bear and look at it for a second before its mama came looking. When you’re living in the moment, instead of on a phone, you get a chance to experience things in real-time and not through a screen. It makes things special.
