The hustle of family life — work, school, appointments, practice, homework, dinner, bed — is constant. We move in and out of activities and commitments with ferocity. Some days, I’m certain all I really say to my children, in one way or another, is “move.” As in, let’s go — now! And I know that we move with purpose, balancing meaningful work with practical considerations, valuing studies, deliberately selecting activities that matter. In our world, food, family even and free play have a firm place, often touted as sacred and protected ground. And since our life is designed to fully embrace living it, we have to be mindful of all the pieces that might creep in and occupy more than their fair share. Technology is one of those pieces.

All at once, it seems, our children began leaving diapers, cribs and strollers for backpacks, play dates and sports. Seemingly, the technology infiltrated just as suddenly. One day I was managing public preschool television programming and a small selection of desktop computer games, the next, portable devices, social networks, e-readers, video games and the everywhere of the Internet. I had to adapt to the shift, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t manage the multiple screens like I manage our family philosophy of purpose. With the same vision of mindfulness we apply in other areas of our life, the Slow Tech philosophy was born.

The Slow Tech movement began with boundaries, or iRules — specific ways we would use the technology, carefully outlined to consider age, academic need, personal tendencies and type of devices. These guidelines supported our expectations of each individual child. Then we made house rules built on strategies that would work for the entire family system. It became less about the constant use of technology and more about how we use the technology.

Read the complete the story at dailygood.org.