It’s Surprising How Much You Can Get Done.
After three days of extreme complaint, as part of our latest campaign to encourage Dylan to do school work when it should be done, Dylan went to school on Monday without his cell phone. He was allowed one hour to use his phone, from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m.
He came home without issue, and spent three hours working on school work. He ate dinner with us. He talked and joked and had a good time at the table, then played the piano for a little while afterward.
At 8:00 on the nose, Dylan yelled down the stairs. “Mom, should I just get my phone out of your room?”
“Yes,” I yelled up the stairs. “You have one hour!”
“Okay!” Dylan yelled back.
He got his cell phone, then went away for an hour, presumably to be with his friends.
At 9:00, on the nose, he yelled downstairs, “Mom, should I just put my phone back in your room now?”
“Yes!” I yelled up the stairs.
About an hour later, Dylan was wandering past the living room and he stopped in to say goodnight to Bill and me.
“I didn’t even really mind not having my phone today,” Dylan said.
“That’s good,” I said.
“Yeah,” he said. “It’s surprising how much you can get done when you don’t have anything else to do.”