The Connected Family

The Connected Family

Plan an analog summer with me - for you!

Strategies for putting down the phone and picking up real life ☀️

Emily Thomas's avatar
Emily Thomas
May 21, 2026
∙ Paid

Psst: we have another AMA podcast coming up soon! Submit your questions for John and/or me here or just leave them in the comments. You can listen to the first one here!


Here’s the neat thing about all the effort we put into giving our kids a low-screen, real-world-rich life: it’s good for us, too! It makes our lives better right alongside theirs.

This goes for summer, too. So as we work to scaffold a summer filled with creativity, adventure, friendship, passion, freedom, and fun for our kids, let’s do the same thing for ourselves. Let’s spend less time scrolling our summer days away and more time participating, making, connecting, and enjoying. Amen?

As I see it, there are two halves to this equation: the putting down your phone part, and the picking up real life part. We’re going to talk about both today, including a few new things I’m trying over the next few months. Let’s dive in!

My friend texted me this photo she marked up of a catalog that arrived at her home… if even Land’s End is in on the analog summer, you know it’s a thing! :)

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