Time to let go of stuff and get back to basics

A FEW days ago my world of entertainment ended with the last episode of Game of Thrones. For weeks, I've had a snuggly date night with my couch. And last night, I truly didn't know what to do with myself.

This, my friends, is the queasy consequence of the information age. And that – me being at a loss because my telly can't deliver the goods – is a symptom.

At home, I am surrounded by books and board games, as well as half-bits of wool and needles. I have mini-pedicure sets faded by dust and misuse; I also have the novel that was begun but will not end.

I have a million non-technological things to do, but am so dumbed down by a desire to be passively entertained and informed that I don't know what to do without Game of Thrones.

Because I'm an adult, and reasonably bright, and read a lot about all types of things, I've noticed the trend and can bend against it, with time and effort. I'm worried about my muddied brain and have started doing crosswords on the loo, for starters. I hide my phone in the kitchen at night, because it's too tempting to spend hours surfing the internet, reading mindless celebrity swill. When I do that, I go to bed feeling mentally hungry and intellectually cheated. Because I've wasted time, that can't be bought back, on Kim Kardashian's cellulite.

The problem is, I suspect that technological overload is contagious. And I'm convinced that this, together with a couple of other nasties, is absolutely the reason why kids are completely – almost insanely – different from us at the same age. And really, it's not okay.

We were at a picnic last week. Lots of jungly bushes, hidden brooks, rocks to climb, bird life to spot – that sort of thing. I'd barely touched bum to blanket when my daughter asked for my phone. It is a fabulous instrument, because it has games and e-mail and all sorts of information about everything, including Kim Kardashian's cellulite.

But what the hell could a nine-year-old possibly find more interesting, on a device the size of a butter brick, than being in the jungle, on a picnic?

I feel it's time to let go of our "stuff" and get back to basics. We're the adults and that's why our nine-year-olds would rather play "knock the angry bird with a cannonball" than skip over rocks. And why I haven't finished my novel, or played Monopoly in forever.

Paediatric occupational therapist Angela Hanscom warns that children simply don't play or move enough anymore. This, she says, is the real reason why they fidget in class, or are in some cases are diagnosed with attention and academic disorders.

"Children are constantly in an upright position these days. It is rare to find children rolling down hills, climbing trees and spinning in circles just for fun. Merry-go-rounds...are a thing of the past. Recess (break) times have shortened due to increasing educational demands, and children rarely play outdoors due to parental fears, liability issues and the hectic schedules of modern-day society. Let's face it: children are not nearly moving enough, and it is really starting to become a problem."

There are a million neurological, scientific and study-backed reasons for the madness and lethargy we're all experiencing these days. But to me, the answer is simple: we spend too much time living other people's lives on screens, big and small.

And seriously? Somebody needs to invent a swing for grown-ups.