Need help cutting the cord. I mean the electrical cord.

I always used to judge parents who let their children play their phone. God forbid the child had his or her own electronic! I was the great mom -- the in the floor playing kind of mom. The organic mom. The no TV mom. The no sugar mom.My kids were perfect angels. My daughters excelled at everything. They slept through the night and their shit didn't stink.Yeah. That all ended.My kids used to be extremely active. I would always wonder why we were the only parents outside actually playing with our kids. We'd ride bikes, swim, go for hikes, go to parks. We only ate candy on Fridays because it was special.It started out slowly but surely. Our TV usage had already crept up to, well, constantly. I'd let them play my phone here and there. Then more. Then more.And now here we are. They're 5 & 8. They have a Wii, a DS, tablet, a mini DVD player, the oldest has a TV in her room (to be fair, she lost the remote the second week), and they both have their own phones (wifi only).Our life has completely turned upside down. My children have stopped drawing. They have stopped playing. They don't even touch their toys. My 5 year old literally does not want anything to do with us and walks around with her phone and headphones on. They're addicted.We still do things as a family and they love going to the park when it's warm, but they would much rather watch their phones over anything. I know my husband has a major problem and I do too. I do not use my phone while my kids are home---who the hell knows why cause I am always the only one standing there without an electronic.Husband and kids are gone to the store and I just put everything but the Wii in a garbage bag and hid it. They're going to be so pissed when they come home but I have got to make a radical change. Their behavior is terrible, they're disrespectful, the YouTube videos they watch have them saying freaking and stupid and oh my God.I want to make sure they are not missing their childhood.I want to make sure I'M not missing their childhood.I fully expect some type of withdrawal from them. We are going to all have to relearn how to interact. They're going to have to learn how to play again. And if I'm being honest, I'm going to have to learn how to parent again. My crutch will be gone. I'll have to use my imagination. I'll have to daydream and do crafts and tell stories. I'll have to read books. I'll have to answer questions about the world.And I'm ready. I'm going to love them through this impending crisis of the loss of their most cherished possession, and then I'm going to take them out into the world."only one thing made her happy. And when it was gone, everything made her happy." -Leonard Cohen via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2GH45mJ