The Ten-Day Challenge

A story about unplugging, family time and finding new things to do.

It started at the dinner table. Noa’s mother said, “I think we are all spending too much time on screens.” Noa’s brother nodded. Her father looked up from his phone, and put it face down. “Perhaps we should try an experiment,” he said.

They agreed to a ten-day challenge. After dinner, no phones, no tablets, no television. They could use screens for homework, and for calling their grandparents. Everything else was off. They put the devices in a basket in the hall.

On the first night, Noa felt restless. She wandered round the lounge room, and checked the clock. Her fingers kept reaching for a phone that was not there. “I am bored,” she announced. Her mother handed her a pack of cards. “Try these,” she said.

They played a game of snap, and then a game of cheat. Noa laughed so hard that she got hiccups. By bedtime, she realised that she had not thought of her phone for an hour. It was a strange, calm feeling.

On the third night, they got out an old jigsaw puzzle. It had a thousand pieces, and showed a picture of a mountain village. They spent hours at the table, talking about everything. Her father told stories about his childhood, and her brother told jokes.

On the fifth night, Noa wrote in her notebook. She had not written for fun in years. She wrote a poem about the moon, and drew a sketch of the family dog. Her mother peeked over her shoulder, and smiled. “That is lovely,” she said.

By the seventh night, the family had played four board games, finished the puzzle, baked a lemon cake and gone for a walk after dinner. Noa noticed something odd. She was sleeping better, and her head felt clearer.

On the tenth night, they ate dinner on the back lawn, under the stars. “Should we go back to our screens?” asked her father. Noa thought. “Maybe a bit,” she said. “But I want to keep two nights a week without them.”

Her family agreed. They called it “Switch-Off Wednesday and Saturday,” and they stuck to it. The basket stayed in the hall, with a card on top that said, “See you later.”

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