We didn't have internet for 24 hours, it was magical. . .

I'm back after a long-needed break. I have been dealing with changing 10,000 nappies a day, tantrums from my five year old who has the attitude of a hormonal teenager and dealing with my own personal breakdown because. . . well I'm just a mum?

Yesterday, the internet went down. As expected, total chaos broke down in my household, my five year old couldn't feed his daily x-box/YouTube addiction, I couldn't check my social media or access important emails and well, every thing just felt odd.

Why did it feel odd? That's because now as a society, it is the complete norm to have 24 hour access to the internet and without it, we would crumble. I wish I could say that I was exaggerating, but I think that would be a complete understatement. We rely on the internet for almost everything now from checking up on our relatives and friends to searching for medical advice on the infamous Dr Google.

I have to say though, after an hour of the house going into complete melt-down mode, we all experienced things that we wouldn't have if we had access to the internet. We really ENGAGED with each other during conversation, we listened and took in every detail of what others were saying instead of being distracted by a "ping" or vibration. We enjoyed the fresh air instead of being cooped up in one room for hours and we discovered things about each other that we never knew. We played games, communicated with relatives in person rather than typing with little emotion and we got things done on our to-do-list in one day as opposed to three.

It really brought to light how time-consuming, distracting and negative the internet can really be. Although as wonderful and as useful as it is, it really was magical being able to talk to my children without their attention being distracted elsewhere and mine. . .