Grateful that I Put the Phone Down

Y'all, it's no secret: we live in a world full of technology. If I'm not mistaken it's gotten to the point where some elementary schools are encouraging (dare I say enforcing) children under the age of 12 to use tablets on a regular basis. Crazy, right? (That's a whole different blog post for a totally different day!).  Today, I'm grateful & I'm linking up with Emily. 

OK, yes... I may be talking in circles right now. (Didn't I just complain about technology being everywhere?) Yes, yes I did. However, I'm grateful for my family's ability to put down said technology and communicate like normal people. 

For Valentine's Day, my family went to dinner with the neighbor and his kids. (You can read some of those conversations here). We have a rule in our family: "no technology at dinner". The rule didn't use to exist. When Josh and I first started dating (2006) sure we had cell phones but they were so basic. Pretty much all we could do was text. At that time the only people we really wanted to text were each other, save a few close friends, and on dates we wouldn't answer texts from other people. It really wasn't an issue. We wanted to spend time with each other. If either of us got a notification, we simply ignored it. Imagine that! 
I'm not exactly sure when things changed. They did change though. Josh and I both were guilty of it. We both would check facebook, or twitter, or instagram - while on a date - and we wouldn't know anything that was really going on in each others' lives!  How incredibly sad is that? I'm almost embarrassed to admit it. I would even do it while out with friends. (Sorry!)
I can tell you when things stopped. When we put the phones down. It was in the middle of 2014. (ouch) That wasn't too long ago. I've never been shy to admit that Josh and I went to couples therapy for awhile. 2014 was no different. After many sessions, the therapist realized (after we admitted to it) that we weren't really paying attention to each other. Sure, we'd take date nights, but we weren't really being with each other. It was us and the rest of the world. All sharing the same chicken alfredo at Olive Garden. 
Guess what, y'all? Ever since we made the agreement to not check anything while we're out, it's changed for the better in a huge way. I'm so grateful. Beyond grateful. I challenge each of my readers to try it (if you don't already... if you do, GREAT!). Try keeping your phones in your purses, pockets, diaper bag, whatever. If you have a sitter, set a special ring tone for them. Tell your sitter to call if it's a real emergency (don't text, cause if your phone is like mine, all of the text notifications stay the same). This way, you will only pick up the phone knowing it's a true emergency for the kids! 
I only started thinking about how grateful I am for focusing my attention on anything but the phone because of the funny conversations we had at dinner this past weekend. While we were laughing, joking, poking fun at each other everyone around us had their noses buried in their phones. Don't believe me? Take a look around next time you go out! I dare you! 
What are you grateful for today? Link up with Emily! Be sure to read some of the other posts while you're there. I can tell you from experience that reading them will make your week brighter!