13. It was Day 1 of our vacation on Cortes, a beautiful quiet island. "iPhone, iPhone, iPhone," my son kept moaning (呻吟). In front of him was a big window facing the blue ocean. And a cool gentle wind was coming in from the door. Clearly, he saw and felt none of it.
Back at home, I'd soon give up and hand the phone over to him after five minutes of listening to this kind of moaning.
But not here. Before we left, I had told my 10-year-old son the rule — no e-mails, no Facebook, no video games, and no iPhone. We came here to get away from them all. Here we were on our first day and already, he couldn't stand it.
I just walked outside to leave him alone. I walked down the grass road to the beach and looked out to the sea. My 6-year-old daughter and my husband were drawing on pieces of wood. They were doing just fine.
On Day 2, we spent the whole morning digging for shells (贝壳). This time, my son joined us. He collected shellfish and other sea treasures. When we got back to our little wood house, I gave my son a book, and put him on the lovely garden chair. It was almost dinner when he looked up.
The next few days passed in peace.
On Day 6, my son was lying beside me on the beach, watching the sun going down. He was playing with the sand. And there was something shining in his eyes. I realized how time slowed down for both of us. It was exactly what I wanted. Finally, we were able to sit quietly without thinking about screens, phone calls and e-mails.
A week away from all the electronics is good.