Thanksgiving...unplugged and reconnected. Could you do it?

    Thanksgiving is upon us and the joy of eating until you either fall into a food coma or roll yourself out of the house with leftovers in hand begins. For my son Thanksgiving will be a challenge simply because of a house full of people but a challenge that often makes for a great distraction in our case. Autism isn't the subject today but I have to mention it just for good measure.

   The subject is old school. By that I mean Thanksgiving the way we used to know it, tons of food, football, family, and limited technology distractions. For some, family gatherings have changed a bit with cell phones, Ipods, and whatever else we can plug into. Including the TV but considering the football lives in that giant distraction, I will leave that one alone. How many of you find yourself in a group of people and look around to find limited interaction with each other because technology has a vice grip? Texting, music, games, whatever it may be these days it's always there and to often interaction is not.

   A few weeks ago my kids and I were driving in the mini van and two of my kids had Ipods in hand with headphones in the ears while texting.  What happened was, I had no one to talk to without interrupting technology and I cracked. The new rule of leaving these things behind when we go somewhere as a family was set because at that point it was either leave it behind or this mom was going to launch it all out of the mini van window into the nearest ditch never to be seen again.

   I remember the good old days that consisted of talking and distraction by way of each other as family and as people. I know many people have set strict rules on these things but I also know many people wish they had set more rules long ago. I wish I had and did but slowly it snuck in and I allowed it. One mom fail I know I am completely guilty of and I do see it as a fail to have my children so plugged in and tuned out to often.

   We are constantly wondering what is wrong with the world around us and the way things are going in our society and we all know how disconnected from each other people have become. It's clear, we all see it and are guilty of it so this Thanksgiving, leave it all behind. If you must take a cell phone leave it in the car as soon as you see the people you are thankful for to begin with. If it's the camera you need disconnect the Wi-Fi. I know, that's a scary thought for a lot of us but think of how it used to feel to actually connect with the people sitting next to you.  Unplug the kids and give them back what this generation is missing out on, connecting face to face. Aside from the kids, could you do it? Could you make it all day without sharing a picture of your mash potatoes with 300 of your friends or only commenting on a football game with the people right next to you who might not like your comment? Could you miss a text or in some cases hundreds of them to speak to the one person next you? Sometimes I wonder if it's not just what we see in the news that is a direct reflection of what's wrong with the word but what is happening in our very own lives we don't even realize is happening, because it all slowly snuck in and took over. Happy Thanksgiving and happy disconnecting from the online world, if you can.