We unintentionally unplugged and....no one died!

Hey there...it's been a while.  I have some serious stories to tell and I can't wait to share all of the crazy and exciting things that have been going on in my life.

But first.....a few weeks ago I got hit with a triple whammy. It was pretty much my worst nightmare come true.

Let me quickly fill in some gaps that may be helpful for you to get the full effect of my chaotic weeks!  I have been subbing at my son's school (read about how much I love his school here) and it has turned into a longer term position.  That's great and I love it.

BUT....it's teaching kindergarten AND first grade.

You teachers will know that means!

Basically, it means that I'm spending all of my time with walking, talking petri dishes. Of course, a few weeks after I started working full time, my class was hit with the most horrendous strain of stomach bug that I've ever encountered! For several days in a row, I had only 50-percent of my class present, with the rest dropping like flies throughout the day.

Since I'm a mom and I can't help myself, I was running around checking foreheads and giving cuddles while my young wards waited for their parents to pick them up. And, I was letting them sit close to me during circle time. Needless to say, I got the bug too. I am no baby when I'm sick and I can tough it out 99% of the time.

Not this time!

I was bedridden with a high fever for a few days.
I smelled like putrid sweat and filth and barely did anything to even mask my odor.
I didn't play with my kids.
I didn't join my family for meals.

I literally laid in bed and occasionally shuffled out to the kitchen or the bathroom--only under emergency circumstances, of course.

The week before, I almost died from the this virus (seriously, that's how it felt), my family changed internet providers. They were supposed to come out within two days to hook up our new service, so we cancelled our old service, figuring we could manage for two days without an internet connection.

Guess what?

They changed our hook up date to two weeks later. Yes.....TWO WEEKS! I can't even explain to you how frustrated we all were.

By the time I almost died from the bug going around and was stuck in bed, we had no internet and guess what happened next? 

My phone ran out of data.
Seriously.
No data. No internet.

In bed, feeling like I was dying.

Of course, that all was super stressful and I almost had a panic attack. We're all so connected to our phones, tablets, and computers that I couldn't fathom how we could possibly survive.

Our sweet neighbors let us use their wi-fi, but the connection was so weak that it was more frustrating than helpful.

So we toughed it out.

The kids couldn't watch PBS kids. We couldn't check e-mail or Facebook. I couldn't prepare for my days as a teacher, communicate with Malea, or do any real work on Mom2MomEd.

I thought I'd spend most of the time mooching free internet at Starbucks, but I ended up going only twice for very short windows of time. 

In truth, there was something freeing about not checking my phone very often or absentmindedly scrolling through Facebook or Instagram. I think it was easier because I wasn't trying to disconnect consciously--I literally had no choice.

I can honestly say that I didn't miss being connected as much as I thought I would. Don't get me wrong! I did miss the world of the internet and being connected 24/7, but through this period, my time on the internet had to be more planned out and calculated. I made sure to get what I needed to do done and not waste time screwing around. 

It did become glaringly obvious that it's impossible to completely disconnect in our world today. We rely so much on e-mail and Facebook and social media to keep in contact with our friends and our families, as well as to do our jobs and so much more.

While it was nice to have fewer distractions from electronics, I fully admit that I wouldn't ever disconnect willingly. My kids like their time watching a show on the tablet and this mama likes her short bursts of quiet time while the kids are occupied. It's relaxing to scroll through Facebook and I love reading the news online.

Have you ever intentionally or unintentionally disconnected from the internet? If so, how did that go? Did you notice any changes in your daily routine or mood? Would you do it again? Leave a comment! I can't wait to hear about your experiences with disconnecting!