The Put Down Your Cell Phone Silence

Saturday was an interesting day.  I was at an EfM training--loving it, but I needed to be home for Georgia/Auburn kick off (an hour and a half drive).  I was thrilled to learn that while ESPN in Leitchfield was saying kick off was 2:30 it was actually 3:30 in Louisville.  On the way home my temperature spiked--ugh!  Got home to the couch and laid around until kick off then dozed during the first half--that is the only thing that kept my temperature from reaching blood boiling levels.

William was in a play at 7 and we had to get there by 6:30--it sold out for three nights straight.  As the lights were going down for the play, my phone started exploding with ESPN updates and texts from my sister.  We were back in the game!!!  I resisted the urge to run screaming from the theater and straight down the street to my in-laws to watch the conclusion of the game--that doesn't mean that I did not stop refreshing ESPN non-stop.  Well, the game didn't turn out so well, but William was amazing.

After the play the family, minus Christopher, all went to Ramsi's for a celebratory dinner--it's our tradition.  Not to be sidetracked, but to be sidetracked.  Five years ago after a ballet performance, Ramsi's was the only open restaurant.  In our family, do something once or maybe twice and it's a tradition.  So now even though I have been told they don't even really like Ramsi's we HAVE to go there after every performance.  And that my friends is not because of my neurosis--no that is the gift of neurosis which I have unselfishly bestowed upon my children.  So we were all there and everyone was taking pictures.  Some people, who shall rename nameless, were racing to get them on instagram and then see who got the most "likes."

Chris and I exchanged a few glances which said, "Which one of us is going to tell everyone to put their phones away?"  Chris won (or perhaps lost) our glancing contest which frankly is a good thing.  He is much nicer about phone rules and makes them way more fun.  So he says, "On the count of three we're all going to put our phones in the center of the table and the first person to touch theirs has to pay for dinner." Now we all knew who was going to pay for dinner--but it was more fun than the way I would have done it which would have been to say,"Everyone put your phones away or I'm going to take them for a week."  So all the phones went into the center of the table and Caroline put them in a pile back and forth horizontal/vertical.  Chris says, "Hey that's like jenga."  William, "Like rich people jenga." And then we fell into the silent abyss of no cell phones.

Anyone who has four teenagers (I recognize that number is small so I'll increase it--anyone who has teenagers) is probably familiar with this silence. It  happens immediately following the "Phone Put Away."  It's as though they have to rewire their brains and remember how to talk to people without glancing down in their laps (like we don't know what they're looking at when they glance down).  So we had that moment of silence--the moment seemed to stretch--Chris looked out the window over to the Skyline chili sign and I suppose he was trying to break the silence so he says, "Hey William look at that sign--it says 'A Thanksgiving Three Way'  William, of course, begins his belly laugh--SK momentarily looks shocked, but we all know that was a fake look of surprise; these things happen all the time in our family.  Nothing should ever shock anyone, but at least she's learned the etiquette of looking shocked and those things which the rest of the world deem entirely inappropriate.   Caroline begins saying,"What?  I don't get it."  Chris just sat their with a totally innocent expression on his face.  Caroline kept saying, "what?"  "Chris," I say, "Now we're going to have to explain this to her."  All I could think of was we were now adding to her arsenal of inappropriate things to say; she really doesn't need our help.  SK now is repeating, "Please not now--tell her later."  William is almost under the table he is convulsing in so much laughter.  And then we all hear Caroline say, "I just don't get what's so funny.  If you'd said menage a trois or a threesome--now that would be funny."

And with that the "just put down the cell phone moment of silence" was over.