One of my favorite parts of Mo Willems’ Knuffle Bunny is when Trixie goes “boneless” as she realizes (but can’t express to her dad) that she has left her stuffed bunny at the laundromat. That word “boneless” describes EXACTLY what little children do when they have one of those meltdowns (or don’t want to get into the car seat when you are in a crazy rush to get to work).
Well this weekend, I went phoneless. Can you imagine? Living for a day (OK, it was only a half day, but still!) without your cell phone? My daughter had to leave her phone at the Apple store to be repaired. Of course I was completely against her going out for the day without a phone, so I did what mothers do…..I gave her mine! That left me…..phoneless.
It was so strange at first. I kept looking for my phone in my purse to see who might have called or texted or to check Instagram or Facebook. Of course when I realized the phone wasn’t there, I felt pretty ridiculous. It was remarkable how many times I drifted over toward my purse throughout the day. It was like there was some kind of magnet. I didn’t count, but I’m sure it was more than four times in an hour in the beginning of the day.
Eventually the magnetic pull seemed to weaken a bit. I started to trust that it was OK not to have to check in with the phone. I actually started to kind of enjoy the freedom. We ran errands, visited my dad, came back home, watched some TV, and all without the need for a phone! No Facebook. No Instagram. No text messages or phone calls. Going phoneless wasn’t so bad. It felt like I was tossing everything to the wind and living the kind of free and fearless life I’ve always dreamed of living.
Just like Trixie gets her bunny back, I did eventually have my phone returned. When my daughter came home, I quickly took the phone and checked for messages and calls. There were only two messages. No calls. I was a little disappointed, to tell you the truth, but I also realized that I should probably go phoneless more often.
Lol. Love “going phoneless” title. When we are all home, I tend to ignore my phone. Glad you found peace with it!
Going phoneless is, exactly what you said, freeing! I actually love going out without my phone. That constant connection to information and people can, sometimes, weigh you down and then you fail to see and appreciate all that is right smack in front of you! Glad you enjoyed your time and I’m glad you got it back — because it is also good to be connected 🙂
I totally get the pull you describe. I’m trying to disconnect more thoughtfully. This inspires me to try harder!
We should all have phoneless weekends, I think. We’d feel the magnet, like you say, but it would gradually weaken. One of the many reasons I love being in the Adirondacks is that there are so many areas where I get absolutely no service, so I just don’t bother checking. It’s freeing.