Technology Free Time

I am recommending this to every family. The other night while we were eating dinner my two littles and my husband were so preoccupied with the TV.  I put my foot down right then and there.  Between my girls being little movie buffs, Tuck with his laptop games and xbox, and me trying to get their attention away from these things...finally giving up...and watching TV, I had enough.  I told them right then and there every single night we will have a technology free time.  We are starting out small.  One hour with no TV, no cell phones, no computers, no video games, nada.  One hour is not too much to ask.  I am sure we go without technology for more than an hour, but only outside of the house...never at home.  I feel like all 3 TV's are always on!
Last night was our first try at this technology free time, and it-was-awesome!  We exceeded our 1 hour rule and went 2.5 hours with no technology.  It was wonderful and the attitudes of everyone in the family was amazing! First, we played hide and seek in the house.  Tuck and I would hide, and the girls would count to ten then look for us. When they found us, we would count and then "look" for them.  Look is in quotes because they hid under the kitchen table every single time.  We laughed and had so much fun!  Then we ate dinner and no one was trying to peek over at the TV. Everyone was smiling the entire time at dinner. Then the babies took a bath and Tuck watched over them, while I folded and put away laundry.  It was the first night in a long time that there wasn't a struggle with bedtime. No one cried that they were not ready for bed, and we didn't hear "Mama, I need to go potty"  300 million times after we tucked them into bed.  It was the most wonderful evening, and I hope you will give it a try too!  Our society has become very dependent on technology, especially with all the fun stuff that cell phones do these days.  It seems like no one ever puts their cell phone down or turns the TV off. Tonight, we will be painting!