So I logged into FB today after 4 days of disconnecting.
I didn't miss much.
I posted about the show on Netflix and basically that in four days I have realized how much negativity and lost time it has caused me. I've been more aware of how much I'm using my phone now. Mainly because I figured out how to pull up my usage. 8 minutes yesterday. 26 minutes today. Mostly phone calls and text messages. A few minutes for checking email. Not too bad. Oldest pulled up his usage for Sunday... just on Snapchat alone, he logged 41 minutes for the day. If the average interaction was one minute long, that's 41 times he was interrupted from what he was doing. In addition, he had 147 notifications. So in ONE DAY his attention was diverted to snapchat nearly 200 times. FROM ONE APP ALONE.
Horrifying, folks. Horrifying.
In the meantime, I've been doing other things instead of scrolling.
Crafty things.
I consolidated some bills. While it saves me marginally on interest, it will make balancing the bills much easier. One large payment instead of getting nickeled and dimed throughout the month.
Youngest had his appointment with his therapist again on Monday. We have his first med check appointment via zoom tomorrow. It will be tough to work it with my schedule for work, but it is doable. He's open to having me at this appointment, which is good because I don't want him double medicated unless he has to be. It is also clinically time to increase the dose he's currently on, so fingers crossed she allows him to do that. The dose he was on when he was ten was 200mg a day. He's currently on 25mg daily at 18 years old. It's a slow medication, but effective for him. It doesn't change who he is or how he thinks, just how he's able to handle things. He's got a long road, but he's slowly starting to move forward. After a LOT of nudging, he's applied for a few jobs, and was hired this morning. Just part time work, but simple. It could turn into a career if he'd like, or not. But it's a starting point none the less. I asked him if he was excited, he said "I'm psyched to not be a bum sitting home all day."
Oldest is struggling to balance remote school and the stress of being home. Things with his brother have been hard. He got a job with the college on Fridays, and he's got another job pending M-F that will hopefully get going soon. Not having any money coming in is stressful on him. We did get him a desk for his room to help with the chaos of having the dog photo bomb his zoom classes. We went to five stores before I finally broke down and ordered one online. It works for the space, and I even accidently matched the floor, so overall it's a winner.
With the weather turning, I've been walking the dog longer, taking in all of the last bits of summer and the early signs of fall. I've been going to sleep earlier, and religiously using the serum I got from the spa a few weeks back. I swear my cavernous forehead *WTF* lines are slowly softening. I've been cooking more. We are eating more meals together.
And I'm tentatively planning a weekend away. Nothing huge, but I need to reconnect with my husband, slow down, and escape the spin on a dime life we've had lately.
I went down to get the mail from the mail box the other day. In a rare turn of evens we had no bills, just a card from a special bloggy buddy who's started mailing love all over the country. It made my day, even more than finding this reminder in the leaves by the stop sign at the end of our road.
After the last few days, I'm definitely with you on SM. Between new FB and those who fit Proverbs description of simple, fool, and scoffer, I'd like to find some sanity.
ReplyDeleteSadly I don't think you're ever going to find sanity on any type of social media. Maybe here, in the blog o sphere if you're open to it, but then there are always the trolls that find ya. :( I just can't believe how much time it sucks from the day. If I'm home on the computer I'm okay with a bit of wasted time, but disrupting my day all day long? I'm all set.
DeleteYay for surprise mail drops! Plan that weekend away - you two deserve it.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to see what the weather holds for that weekend. I suspect we'll head to the island. If it's nice, I may suggest Youngest book himself a campsite out there, head out with us and have his own adventure while we do the B&B thing. All he ahs to do is meet us at the boat when it's time to leave.
DeleteWe could all use a break, from the house and each other, but if it pans out, it could give me the piece of mind that the house will still be standing when we get home and he will feel like he had a vacation. Could be a win all the way around.
I am often wondering what the hell done days but I don't get my knickers in a knott
ReplyDeleteYay for you limiting your Facebook time! I actually have done so good staying off it. 10 minutes here and there and so far today I haven't been on it at all. I need to clean up all the things I'm following. I followed a lot during the lock down because I wanted to get a sense of what people were thinking. I need to just keep happy study on it, like all the corgi groups I belong to.
ReplyDeleteYay that Youngest got a part time job! Its a start like you said and something to keep him busy for a bit of a time . Hopefully it will grow to more hours if he wants more hours. Hoping the appt went well with medication adjustments. Sorry Oldest is struggling with the online learning and the like. It has to be such a different experience.
Good that you are taking care of yourself with the extra walking, doing fun stuff for yourself and planning a weekend getaway! Well deserved and needed I do believe!
betty
I just Love those Inspiration Rocks, we found one at a Restaurant the other day and it made me Smile, it was so Encouraging during these Dark times. Home Schooling the Grandchild we're Raising is the bane of our existence right now, we're not up to the job but there are no alternatives and the School is only marginally addressing the Special Needs Student during Pandemic Lockdown Home School version. It's her Freshman Year in High School so I'm worried High School will be even harder now than we anticipated it would be for her!? Congrats on the Son getting his first Job and being so Jazzed about it, also Hope the Med changes stabilize well enough and that he sticks with managing his own Care as an Adult? Been to that Rodeo with Three different Children we've raised, can be a tough row to hoe, can't it?
ReplyDeleteIt can. His father had similar issues, wasn't properly diagnosed until he was 38 and by that point, it was quite frankly, too late. Youngest has actually worked since he was 14, he was just so stuck in a rut and needed a bit of a breeze to get him moving again. Since it's just part time it will allow him to get himself straightened away and figure out what he wants to do moving forward. Interesting enough he was offered another job, 50 hrs a week, and decent pay with bonuses. It would amount to 45K a year + incentive bonuses. While it was seriously tempting for him (he's only 18) he knows he's not ready right now. The job will be there if he chooses, he just has to check off his personal boxes first.
Delete