Almost 28 weeks pregnant, I headed in for a routine blood test this morning where I had to fast from midnight the night before. If you've been pregnant, or are currently pregnant, you'll know the pain of not being able to eat! Dramatic, I know. It was a gestational diabetes test, three sets of bloods over a two hour period. As I looked around, most of us in the waiting area were on our phones. Myself included.

Phone usage has been front of mind lately, as my son's awareness keeps deepening. I'm feeling more and more of a pull to be off mine. One thing I aim to be as a parent is intentional, and to avoid being a hypocrite. How can I ask him to put small screens down one day if I'm constantly on mine now?

Today I sat there doomscrolling and caught myself wondering, more than once, what I'd even just consumed. But when there's nothing to do and it's already in your hand, why wouldn't you? I've noticed it's especially when I'm tired or anxious that I reach for it more too.

Genuine is something I've always aimed to live by, and to have that come through in Simple Prints. Instagram is where it all started, and I've built so many real connections through it. But the pace of it lately is starting to feel lost to me. Everything moves so fast. Information is unregulated, and a lot of what I consume leaves me feeling like I've done something wrong, in parenting, in business, even in my relationship with Michael. I usually leave feeling either numb or not good enough. Neither of those feelings are what I want to feel much of.

It has me wondering if there even needs to be an alternative, or if I'm overcomplicating the whole phone thing. What I have noticed is that long form content, writing here, in emails, feels much more aligned with my current season. I can log on and be present after my son's asleep, and when I'm with him, I can just be.

I don't have it figured out yet. I don't know what this means for Simple Prints long term, or whether I should step back from Instagram (though I've somewhat unintentionally been doing that lately anyway). But what I do know is I'd rather watch my son grow up without the background noise of what I should or shouldn't be doing while raising him. In between his playing and getting jobs done, I'd rather try to fill any spare time with hobbies, or a book. Anything analog. Get back to basics.