My husband hates his cell phone. With a passion. I swear sometimes he loses it on purpose just to see how quickly I will come after him with a hatchet threats to replace it with four others and a tracking device. He was thoroughly against getting one and remains against having one. When I remind him several times, he will often even remember to turn his phone on, at which point I alert our local media that he has made such progress.

I, on the other hand, will actually drive back to my house if I've managed to leave home without my trusty cell phone. I carry it with me always, leave it on throughout my day, and most of the time hold it in my hand with my keys so I don't misplace it.

My daughter, I guess a little like me, is addicted to the phone. The cell phone. Any phone. Maybe its a three-year old thing. Or maybe the teenage-tendancies that we know so well are starting earlier and earlier. But the problem is, Anna wants the real thing.

First we gave her a toy phone. She played with it for about half-an-hour. Then I gave her a retired cell phone, which she liked for a while, until she realized that I had a 'flip-phone' and she insisted that she wanted an "open-shut phone like Mommy." Needless to say, I would not surrender my phone to my toddler, but I think it was at that moment that the fun began.

Anna, at 2 1/2 (she's now three) learned how to answer the phone. Any phone. My cell phone. My husband's phone. Our house phone that requires actually pushing a button or two to answer an incoming call. She has also figured out where the 'redial' button is and how to make outgoing calls to whatever number I last dialed. When the phone rings - and I manage to get there first - she immediately wants to know loudly demands to know who is on the phone and can she talk? Now? Now? Some of the time I don't mind, but other times, she answers the phone when my boss is calling and a fight ensues as I try to recover my phone from her very tight grasp.

This is why I love the traditions of Shabbat. One day a week I remove myself from the pressures and demands of the outside world. One of the traditions that I keep, is that we do not answer the phone from sundown on Friday to nightfall on Saturday. Even Anna has learned the difference between answering the phone during the week and ignoring it on Shabbat.

It is actually a very freeing experience. I am truly a slave to my computer, my phone, the television, and my schedule during the week, but Shabbat for me is like an island in time where I can recharge my own internal batteries, enjoy real quality time that isn't interrupted by a telemarketer or whatever. It also allows me to focus on being a better mom - not leaving Anna while putting her to bed because I need to answer the phone, or spending time talking to someone else on my cell phone when I really haven't seen my husband all week.

I'm not saying that Shabbat needs to be included in everyone's week. I'm not here to proselytize. But the concept can easily apply to us all. We are all so overscheduled, we are all "slaves" to things in our lives that shouldn't have power over us. Maybe for one day - maybe just for an hour: turn your phone off - your computer or television - and see if you can bring some more freedom - more peace into your life.