Disclosure: My family and I pledged to take a Tech Timeout in conjunction with a sponsored post through the Moms Bloggers Club Network and Foresters.  I received compensation in exchange for my honest opinions and experience.

Have you ever uttered the words, “My life is in my phone?”

As a blogger, I am tethered to my phone like an umbilical cord.  All my information, news, gossip, contacts, etc are contained in one device.  My oldest daughter, my husband and friends constantly text me.

I tweet…a lot.

I Facebook way too much.

I Instagram and crop gorgeous photos into nifty little square images.

I love Pinterest.

I run virtual races.

I “check in” to help promote businesses but also because all the cool kids Yelp and Four Square and I l must retain my reigning titles as Duchess of our favorite places.  It’s all about the virtual bling.

*sigh*

It’s a sad reality.  In my world, my life is in my phone.

My name is Denise and I am a social media addict.

As an intervention, my family and I signed a pledge to take a Tech Timeout to cut the umbilical cord and snip away the life line from my virtual social media world for one hour.  By taking the Tech Timeout pledge, we would plug back into the lives that really matter.

Taking a Tech Timeout pledge was quite a challenge because I’m not the only one in my home who is tethered to a device.  My older children communicate with their teachers via websites and email and complete assignments online.  Plus all three of my children stare at tablets and other hand-held electronic devices.  My three-old loves playing games on Mommy’s iPad especially when we’re dining at restaurants.

To survive a Tech Timeout and detox from technology, I would have to get punitive creative, once homework was completed, of course.  We already have a rule: “No phones or tablets at the table.  Dinner time is a time to talk and share our days.”

But in my mind, I needed to take the Tech Timeout pledge one step further.

Therefore, this week after school, my children read books, real books not tablets with Kindles.

Remember those lovely smelling fibrous objects with bindings to palm in your hand?  Do remember how lovely it was to bend back a book and really get into a story physically and mentally?

I even checked out a book from the library. Mind you, its large print because my eyes are used to expanded text on my iPad.

My family and I will continue to take a Tech Timeout to read old-fashioned books.  This week, we’ll also take walks and go for runs as a family.

How about you?  Will you take a Tech Timeout to reconnect with your loved ones?

Sign the Tech Timeout pledge here or download the pledge form.

Need some ideas for a Tech Timeout?  Try spending hour doing one of these 50 Tech Timeout activities.