90's Style Experiment

We decided to drive five and a half hours to Georgia, without screens.

This is not something I say casually. Screens have been my quiet, ongoing issue for years. Keeping everything charged, downloaded, and updated. Trying to decide what's appropriate, what isn't, and what's "fine for now." Before long trips, the whole tech rigamarole honestly stressed me out. There's nothing like the horror of getting in the car, pressing play and seeing "download failed."

I listened to The Anxious Generation a while back (listened, not read aloud — because sadly I haven't actually read a whole grown-up book in years), and the message stuck with me more than I expected. It inspired me to throw everything out and move our family of six off grid… eventually reality and cooler heads prevailed and I settled on scaling things back a bit. So when the travel plan for spring break came up it felt like a manageable place to try… Five and a half hours with no screens. 90's style.

I won't pretend it was peaceful. I didn't get to listen to my usual true crime podcast or audiobook while the children dove into their virtual worlds. Instead, there was plenty of bickering. A lot of "I'm bored." And a few necessary seat changes.

Surprisingly, without the default of everyone disappearing into their own device, something else filled the space. We talked more, laughed more. Sang "100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" 100 times. We listened to a kid-friendly podcast together and ended up actually discussing it. There were stretches of nothing, naps and counting birds outside the window.

It wasn't relaxing and at times not that fun but it definitely felt different. We were living the same experience, instead of four separate ones happening next to each other and that realization was actually profound for me as a mom and as a human. I also noticed something uncomfortable… how much I rely on that small pocket of "me time" even when I'm surrounded by my family. Not necessarily in a bad way, just in a way that has become very normal. The experience made me wonder how much of that is habit or comfort and how much of it is something I actually need.

I'm not trying to eliminate screens entirely. That's not realistic for us, and I'm not convinced it's necessary. But this did make me realize that some of the anxiety I've had around managing the downloads, limits, and negotiations—it all goes away when they're just not part of the plan.

The kids adjusted. I adjusted.

It was a little louder, a little messier, and a lot more shared.

If you're on the fence, it might be worth trying in a low-stakes way. Not as a rule, just as an experiment.

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