Why I like Facebook.

I gave up Facebook for Lent. I thought maybe I would find a better use for my time if I wasn't mindlessly playing bejeweled blitz, or yakking with my "friends". Turns out, I haven't. But I have discovered a couple things which I find interesting. Facebook wasn't taking me away from my kids. I'm still glued to a textbook, or reading the "news" online, watching TV or on the phone. I'm just as distracted as I was before, just with different stuff. I've decided that I help the kids with their homework, dance with them in the living room, talk to them about their day, play games with them and read them stories at night. (Side note: This is way more interaction and quality time than we have ever had before, because my kids are spending more time outside of their own heads than ever before, but we all still need that time inside our own heads). It is okay for them to wait their turn when I am doing something else, and that something else doesn't always have to be 'important', it can also be something as trivial as "me time" (FYI, "me time" is certainly not trivial, if done right it helps you remember who you are as an actual person, and that makes you a better mommy). Like everything else in life, it just comes down to balance. My short time without Facebook is making me realize that there are worse ways to spend my time. As you know, you can read a vast assortment of articles online about every topic imaginable and then comment on them. I never really paid attention to the comments before, but started reading some of them in the past week or so. It's possible that there are some intellectual cyberspace conversations going on out there somewhere- I just haven't stumbled across them. What an incredibly vapid, toxic, petty drama you can involve yourself in with complete strangers. No thanks. I would rather read comments and respond to people I actually know, in a relatively drama free environment. I miss you Facebook, and my little sense of cybercommunity. I have had some interesting introspection going on during Lent, which I appreciate. I'm realizing the things I want to let go, the things I want to be better at, and what kind of person I want to try to be. This is no small thing and I am grateful for the insight. However, I'll be coming home after Lent, and can't wait to catch up with everyone. Until then, know that I am thinking about all of you, and have spent time praying for everyone on my friends list and for the things I know are going on in your lives, and the things I don't know are going on. Oh, to finish on a weird, random thought: I find myself writing status updates in my head, even though I have no outlet for them. That's only a little strange, right?