http://goo.gl/hrwri
Report
During the week we had planned to try some traditional Pioneer games. The kids were excited for the chance to try out some of those games (Marbles was a big hit). In addition to those games we played some of our board games and had a great time re-learning dusty games from our coat closet.
We also tried to eat meals that were more rustic. We cooked a couple of meals in Dutch Ovens and one meal on the grill. We also made our own butter. The kids really enjoyed shaking the heavy cream and were excited to try the butter on their homemade rolls. In fact we've found that if you buy your heavy cream at a reasonable price you can make your own butter for less than it sells in the stores. The added benefit being that you also have buttermilk as a byproduct for pancakes, scones, muffins etc.
I tried really hard to keep a pen and paper journal for the week. I didn't
do nearly as well as my wife (3 days to her 7) but it was interesting to see that my handwriting isn't nearly so bad as I had suspected it would be given how infrequently I write things down. I also tried to read more and finished a good book The Entrepreneur Equation by Carol Roth (review to follow).
We expected a lot of free time through the week and found that we didn't have near as much as we had planned. Which turned out to be a good thing. Below you'll find my thoughts on the results of the week as opposed to the activities.
Success
How does one judge success on something like a week without technology? "By their fruits shall ye know them". The fruit of our week without tech was promising. It showed me that my family is truly an Eternal Family. I saw my kids being more kind. I saw myself being more helpful to my wife. I saw my wife being happier. I saw my motivation to be better improved. In the end I feel like this is worthwhile and I would encourage everyone (with families or single) to try this Challenge.
FAIL
My participation in the Pioneer Week Challenge was limited. This means that I was able to access and attend to my technology habit at work. I was able to check email, Facebook, G+, Twitter, etc...and generally be connected to the world for the eight hours a day that I was at work. When the work day was over I was forced to cut out the phone, internet, TV, etc and become part of my most important social network, my family. The only failure of the week is that I wish I had the chance to eliminate tech from my life for the entire week like my kids and wife did. I feel like it would have made the week all the more important to me and my family. I feel so strongly about this that I'm considering taking a week off for the next Pioneer Week Challenge so that I can join my family in their tech deprivation.
Conclusion
The thing that I took from the Pioneer Week Challenge that sticks with me the most is that we live our lives full of distractions. Some of those distractions are necessary and part of the journey through life. Others are choices that we make. In large part technology is one of those choices. I'm not suggesting we all throw our tech in the garbage and drag out the horse and buggy. I am suggesting we find the distractions that we choose and decide if they make any sense.
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| Our screensaver for the week |
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| Monkey makin' butter |
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| "Cars" on the TV! |
