I’m having a hard time owning up to my addiction. To be honest, I don't want to. I’m really enjoying it.
About six months ago, my dated Blackberry Curve died and I was in the market for a new phone. I agonized over what smartphone to get. The options included the Blackberry, Android’s (Droids for short) or the ever popular iPhone. After a lot of research and asking friends for their opinions I decided to join the Apple revolution and get an iPhone because of its high quality camera and movie editing capabilities.
I went as far as getting in line at 6am the day the new iPhone 4 launched. Total geek. You know the saying, “once you go thong, you never go back”? This applies to the iPhone too.
As soon as I got a taste for all the free applications you can download, I started to lose my mind a bit. I’m talking about games like Angry Birds that will have you cheering and crying all in a 30 second window, or a handy flashlight app that provides you with a flashlight as bright as the sun (okay, maybe not that bright but you get the point – it works well).
But by far, my favorite apps are the ones that keeps my daughter from hitting the I’m-going-to-scream-at-the-top-of-my-lungs point – iDaft, Talking Tom, BabyFirst, I Hear Eve and YouTube Peppa the Pig videos.
I knew my addiction was getting bad when my husband asked if he could schedule in some cuddle time (is there an app for that?). It was time to find a way to balance it all. Maybe I didn’t need to check my Twitter account 50 times a day.
There are a few positives that have come from my addiction. Over the last six months I’ve been able to keep in touch with all my out-of-town girlfriends. I’m able to work-from-home at times and having an iPhone prevents me from being home bound as I can reply to emails while standing in line at the grocery store. I’ve also been able to record precious moments of my daughter taking her first steps or saying her first word.
Plus, I also capture hilarious moments like when she pooped on the floor or threw up all over dad that I can re-live at her wedding or use for bartering when she’s 15.
I’m acknowledging my addiction this month and learning to detach my phone and even go as far as turning it off. It feels good to separate and disconnect even if I continue thinking in 140 characters or less.
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