A cordless phone

So the story goes......I never wanted a cordless phone because telephones complicated my life. After choosing a simpler way of living, I had to determine that which complicated my life and that which enhanced my life. Having four little kids meant having to remove all that would distract me, overwhelm me or overstimulate me while in the midst of daily living. I wasn't always mindful of what exactly those elements were, but I did know that the phone was one element that severely complicated my life.

When there are four little kids vying for your attention it's challenging when the phone rings and you choose to talk on the phone instead of dealing with the needs of your kids. Here's the visual of my little kids at the time, the eldest, who was, at time and still can be, a "more" child (more loud, more sensitive, more relentless, more intense, more active, etc.) with very high needs, twin toddlers(at times, going in different directions) and a bucket baby(content in the car seat on the floor) or sometimes a backpack baby(didn't want to be left alone). All that going on, then the phone rings......argggh. So I would let the answering machine take the calls, almost always, then I'd return calls when I could. I upset a lot of people by living this way. If I could have a do-over in this area, would I change my decision and answer the phone? - no.

Now my kids are (almost) ten and up. I still let the machine take calls or I turn off the phone. Our answering machine recently broke, it was a good one which saw us through at least fifteen years. For a couple of weeks we weren't able to take messages, does that bother me? - no. My mom bought us a cordless phone last week and it's been well received as we've had a land line for many years. My three younger kids have figured out everything the phone does because they've read the manual many times. They have all the phone numbers in the "phone book" of the phone, Mackenzie(?) recorded the outgoing message, they plugged both(it came with two phones) of them in and knew it would take seven hours to charge, they found out how to find the phones if the phones get lost, they told me that a headset could be attached to the phone, and so much more. I'm glad they learned all this, because I hate reading instructions, I'd much rather watch and then do. I will learn from my kids.

I am going to simplify my life with a cordless phone by getting a headset so I can cook, do laundry, wash dishes all while talking on the phone without having to strain my neck. I do like to give conversations my full attention and I do become easily overwhelmed and overstimulated with too much going on at the same time. I prefer to do a task with my full attention, it's more meaningful to me, no matter what it is. So, I will still turn off my phone when I need to and I will get a headset to enhance my life's experience while using a cordless phone.