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Narrator/Advertiser
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Ginger
Here's a little life update for me, Ginge. I don't know if I told you this. I totally forgot to tell you. And it's one of those where the days blur together and I thought I was like, wait, did I tell her? Didn't I? I'm breaking news.
Jeremy
This is like a real life update on the pod.
Ginger
I have. I have done something doom scrolling facetime. Screen time. You're on your phone.
Jeremy
This is what I do with my time. I save us.
Ginger
So you're saying you're very profitable on your phone, Jeremy.
Jeremy
It bothers me.
Ginger
So what's your screen time?
Jeremy
We're not gonna talk about that. I'm actually really curious.
Ginger
You know what I mean? I'm gonna pull up mine.
Jeremy
Well, this is mine. Okay.
Ginger
Okay. What's going on, guys? Welcome back to another episode of the Ginger and Jeremy podcast. And we are in full swing Summer. And you can tell Ginge, because the weddings have started.
Jeremy
Yes. We have already attended a few weddings. Right. And have another one just around the corner that quite a few of us are involved in. All but two of your family members. Hey, this summer, in this wedding.
Ginger
Yes. This summer, you're gonna be a bridesmaid. And I was a groomsman.
Jeremy
Yeah. That's crazy.
Ginger
That's not our typical involvement in weddings these days.
Jeremy
It's not. Yeah. But it's very sweet. A couple of our close friends are getting married, which is super sweet. And Felicity's gonna be a flower girl. And we're looking forward to this upcoming wedding. The one that just happened was for a close friend of ours. Close friends, actually.
Ginger
I was the groomsman and I Was Unk. I gotta be honest, I was the old man.
Jeremy
Well, it was actually sweet to see,
Ginger
you know, I was the only one in his mid to late 30s in the group. It was very sweet standing up there with the homies.
Jeremy
It was very sweet. I loved that wedding. That was really gracious. It was a big one. It was a very big wedding.
Ginger
Are you looking forward to being a bridesmaid?
Jeremy
I am, yeah. It's crazy how things change. And like your friends, when they start to find their significant other and move on, get married, it's like these seasons that shift and change. It's exciting. But also I'm like, wow. I look back at the time when we were just getting to know each other and it's amazing how time flies. And it's almost been 10 years since we got married.
Ginger
That's crazy.
Jeremy
And looking now at our friends who are about to enter that season for themselves, I cannot believe how much time has passed so quickly. And we have an almost 8 year old. Like, how in the world.
Ginger
Someone said to me, they asked when our anniversary was, they said November 5th. And they were like, oh, wow, fall wedding. You don't often have fall weddings. And I was like, I feel like there's a maybe.
Jeremy
Is that not common?
Ginger
Is it an LA thing where it's all in the summer?
Jeremy
Oh, wow.
Ginger
I think fall in Arkansas was, like, perfect.
Jeremy
It was gorgeous with all the fall leaves. We wanted it in the fall because even my bridesmaids dresses were all like fall jewel tones and that deeper moody. And the church was like dark wood, like a chapel vibe. It was really beautiful with the stained glass. It kind of all went with the theme that we were hoping to have. And so even like the guys in suits, the suits that you had for them were like a darker color. And it was just. I don't know, it felt like the perfect fall vibe, color, feel. Yeah, all the things. And so, yeah, I think that it's. It's interesting, I guess, because maybe la, there are a ton of outdoor weddings and you are just using nature as a backdrop. And so in Arkansas, it would have been too cold to like, do an outdoor wedding in the fall.
Ginger
Yeah, that's true.
Narrator/Advertiser
Or you just.
Ginger
It'd be hit and miss. You wouldn't know what you're going to get.
Jeremy
Yeah, it's true.
Ginger
Felicity tore up the dance floor. Oh, my God, that girl can dance for hours.
Jeremy
So cute.
Ginger
I was at one point looking for her at the reception, like, walking around like, where is this girl? And she was in the middle of the dance Floor everybody around there.
Jeremy
Oh, yeah. That's our girl. We love it.
Ginger
And Evie is content to sit on the sideline and watch with me because
Jeremy
I can't date dance. Still cannot dance.
Ginger
I wonder if Finney will be somewhere in between. He'll get a couple of weeks.
Jeremy
He's gonna be pretty crazy. He'll be out there too.
Ginger
You think so?
Jeremy
I think so.
Ginger
Yeah. Wild.
Jeremy
I like it.
Ginger
So much fun. So summer's in full swing and here's a little life update for me. Ginge. I have. I don't know if I told you this. I'm breaking news.
Jeremy
This is like a real life update on the pod.
Ginger
I have. I have done something to my phone. Look at this.
Jeremy
Black and white mode.
Ginger
I put my phone into dumb mode. Dumb phone mode?
Jeremy
Is that what it's called?
Ginger
Yeah, there's. I mean, you can label it whatever you want.
Jeremy
Does it say dumb mode?
Ginger
But I labeled it as my word. But it's. What if you Google, like, how to put your phone in dumb mode, and you open it up?
Jeremy
No way. It's the black and white.
Ginger
And everything is black and white except for Instagram. No, I mean, once you open the app, the app opens. So, like, if I open, it's hard to see. So I open the weather app. It comes in color.
Jeremy
What does that actually do for you, though?
Ginger
It's the.
Jeremy
If the apps are all working because
Ginger
they've designed your phone to draw you in with all the colors and all the effects and all that.
Jeremy
That's amazing. But I'm just wondering if the apps are still in color. What if Instagram was all black and white?
Ginger
What if you can do that? You can put your phone into grayscale.
Jeremy
Okay.
Ginger
And that cuts down screen time, too,
Jeremy
because I feel like that would, like, on reels, if you're just watching reels that are in black and white.
Ginger
Yeah.
Jeremy
It'd be like watching an old movie.
Ginger
So I spend too much time on my phone.
Jeremy
I was gonna ask you that. What is your relationship with your phone, screen time? Actually, I'm not gonna ask you that right now because I don't want you to check my screen time right now.
Ginger
You know, I'm terrified of that. I've, like. I don't know. It's one of those questions that I'm like, I don't want to ask you yours if you don't ask me mine.
Jeremy
Well, part of it is it depends on what you're using it for.
Ginger
Yeah.
Jeremy
And so it is really tricky because I don't know. I. I don't scroll reels all the time. I don't. I really don't.
Ginger
No doom scrolling.
Jeremy
I don't do it that often.
Ginger
When do you do it? When does it suck you into its vortex? I don't.
Jeremy
I don't like to look at a lot of random ones unless I'm, like, actually trying to make a funny reel. And then I will scroll through to find something. But what I do scroll through is my friends. So does it count? Like, I'll scroll through that as. As a side to, like, discovering new content? You.
Ginger
There's gotta be in this conversation. What. What are you gonna say?
Jeremy
But I was gonna say my screen time is like, if I go on Facebook Marketplace, girl, you're on your screen. I will be on my screen, and I will scroll and like, solid wood furniture. And I will scroll through that for, like, an hour while I'm putting Finn down for bed or nursing the baby in the middle.
Ginger
I love the story of how you found out one of your friends was moving.
Jeremy
That sounds terrible. No, I don't want to say that. No, it's okay.
Ginger
You don't want to tell that story.
Jeremy
No, I will. So I was on Facebook Marketplace because I wanted to get some solid wood furniture, and I just decided. I was like, okay, we have this one room, y'. All. We took this studio. It's like a room inside our house above the playroom. It was like a storage room, and we converted it into our studio. So because we did that whole switchover, we took everything out that was in this room. This was our garage. Cause this house does not have a connected garage. And so we took everything out of here and put it in another room downstairs, which is, like, next to our dining room. And it has doors that close.
Ginger
Well, a tiny dining room, but tiny dining room.
Jeremy
With it barely our family fits at the table and then maybe two other people. And so when we host, we have people in our house all the time. Or just even for, like, holidays when we invite guests in. We've always wanted to have a longer table. And so sometimes when that happens, we will use the playroom and put, like, folding tables in there with chairs and try to make it look as decent as we can for, like, Thanksgiving, For Thanksgiving, whatever, Christmas.
Ginger
So we don't have our dining room because we lost our storage room.
Jeremy
Yes. I'm just rambling at this point.
Ginger
We don't have our dining room.
Jeremy
I can't think. Okay, here we go. So needless to say, we just decided we have to clear out this storage room because it's a long room that we're gonna put a long dining table in. So I thought before Thanksgiving rolls up on us, it still is a long ways away in November. But what happens is, if you're trying to get a bargain on Facebook Marketplace, you have to look like six months in advance, a year in advance to get a good deal. So I typed in Restoration Hardware. Solid wood table, large.
Ginger
Is that really what you mean?
Jeremy
And you know what came up? This table that I was like, that's a gorgeous table. What? That's a great price. And I was like, but I feel like I've seen this table before. And it was. It was my friend's table. She was selling her large dining table and some other furniture because she decided to move.
Ginger
Well, no, the story of how you. You're sitting there on it, and you turn to me and go, why is Kelly selling all of these things? And I immediately pit in my stomach because I had forgotten.
Jeremy
He's like, I forgot to tell you that she's moving.
Ginger
Yeah. Three days before, they had told me, like, hey, we're moving to the OC I totally forgot to tell you. And it's one of those where the days blur together. And I thought. I was like, wait, did I tell her? Didn't I? And so I was like, oh, they're moving. And you're like, what? They're moving? You found out your friend was moving from Facebook Marketplace?
Jeremy
As I'm sitting in church on Facebook Marketplace in church.
Ginger
I was gonna keep that detail out. That one was actually what I was gonna do.
Jeremy
No reason was.
Ginger
It was an announcement. Okay.
Jeremy
It was kind of close to announcements, but I was sitting there thinking close to announcements. As soon as I sat down, it was quiet, and I was chill. Earlier that morning, when I was nursing Finn, I got up early.
Ginger
Oh, that's so funny.
Jeremy
And I was getting ready for church or whatever, and I was taking care of Finney. And then I looked on Facebook Marketplace, saw this, and I was like, oh, I need to ask Jeremy about this later. And so.
Ginger
So during church announcement.
Jeremy
So finally, the kids are in nursery, and I'm sitting there. Yeah. Half the time in announcements, I'm thinking of all the things that need to be done. So that's what happened. And I was like, oh, no. We want to take a break from this episode to tell you about Cozy Earth.
Ginger
If you want comfortable bedding, clothing, sheets for this summer, you've got to try Cozy Earth. It's silky smooth, and it helps you cool off as you're in bed.
Jeremy
It does. And Actually, some of their awesome products. If you don't want to, like, get out of bed, leave those sheets there until you get back in bed. Later at night. They actually have an amazing Everyday Polo and everywhere pant so you can be living in Cozy Earth throughout the day.
Ginger
So you live out of Cozy Earth in the morning, out of the bed and into Cozy Earth for your.
Jeremy
Oh, I like that.
Ginger
You like that smooth transition. Slip out of Cozy Earth into Cozy Earth. We actually live in Cozy Earth. I mean, if I mean comfort, we've got that locked down.
Jeremy
Yeah, I'm wearing his slides right now. I had mine on the other day. I wear them all around the house, my slides. But what I love about Cozy Earth is it's the most giftable thing. We have gifted it to so many people because it is the top quality, number one gift that I would recommend.
Ginger
And real customers honestly cannot stop buying Cozy Earth. So head to their website. Here's your call to action. Summer should feel easy for everyone in the house. Cozy Earth's bamboo sheet set, Everywhere pant and everyday polo are designed to keep you cool, comfortable, and actually relaxed all summer long. Especially for that dad in your life. Head to cozyearth.com and use our code ginger for an exclusive 20% off. That's code ginger for an exclusive 20% OFF. J I N G E R. For all of you new listeners and don't know how my wife spells her name and if you see a post purchase survey mention that you heard about Cozy Earth, right here.
Jeremy
Now back to the episode. We wanna take a break from this episode to tell you about pocket hose.
Ginger
I walked into our backyard a couple of days ago and every morning and evening I go hunting for snakes.
Jeremy
Yeah, I do.
Ginger
And there was next to one of our oak trees, there's a little like rock bed. And snuggled up right in a crevice of a rock was about a foot and a half long rattlesnake.
Jeremy
Terrifying.
Ginger
And the reason I tell you that is because right next to that rattlesnake was curled up our pocket hose. And I'm not lying. This is not just for the ad. I'm not lying. As I sat there and I was waiting because I always like everybody to come out to see the snake that we're about to capture. Felicity's running and getting. Mom, come on out. And you're like, you're lying. There's not a snake. And there was, but I was looking at the pocket hose and I'm not lying. I was thinking how incredible this hose is. It curls up just like that snake
Jeremy
coiled up like a snake.
Ginger
It coils up. It takes no space in the yard.
Jeremy
Oh, my goodness.
Ginger
You turn the water on, it expands. You use it, turn the water off, it contracts and just coils up.
Jeremy
And I was, well, I mean, it is the number one expandable hose in the world, so I would have to throw that in there. It's great.
Ginger
Then I dealt with the rest.
Jeremy
I love how you just compared that to a rattlesnake. But anyhow, I love our pocket hose because I feel like every single year, we had to, like, buy a new garden hose because they crack.
Narrator/Advertiser
They crack.
Jeremy
They, like, stretch across the yard. They're annoying. You can't bring them back in, but not with the pocket hose.
Ginger
And now, for a limited time, when you purchase a new pocket hose ballistic, you'll get a free 360 degree rotating pocket pivot. Makes for a very convenient turn and a free thumb drive nozzle. Just text JJ to 64,000. Text JJ to 64,000 for your two free gifts with a purchase. Text JJ to 64,000. That was my nickname as a kid. JJ. Message and data rates may apply.
Jeremy
Now back to the episode.
Ginger
That's really funny.
Jeremy
But it's fine because I ended up finding this table. We got a large table, which is now it's like. Is it eight feet long? It's, like, super long.
Ginger
Oh, yeah, it's great.
Jeremy
And it's sitting in our living room, our front room. And it's. It takes up.
Narrator/Advertiser
Well.
Ginger
This has actually precipitated a couple of things that I've been procrastinating for a year. So we've lost all of our storage. So this huge dining room in our house is our storage room, Christmas decorations, everything. And we've needed to get a shed. I don't know if everybody out there knows sheds are insanely expensive. You can get a kit at Costco for, like, five grand, but then you gotta put it together. Or you could hire someone, but that's another 1500 bucks or whatever. And for the size we need, they're small. I went to shed, tough sheds or whatever. I'm looking at the size we need, which is like 20 by 12 or 20 by 10 or something. It's like $20,000. And they're like, yeah, this one's on sale for 18. I'm like, I don't want to pay $20,000.
Jeremy
And my thing is, I don't no. And I don't want. I just. It's like, store a Christmas tree. Store, like, clothes and containers that we're not using out of season. I don't want.
Ginger
It's not a. It's not a fun purchase. That's for sure.
Jeremy
It's not. But this is the thing. I'm like, I don't want something that spiders and snakes, like rattlesnakes are going to get in. And so I wanted something that's sealed. And apparently these containers are great, and they will be.
Ginger
Well, that was the.
Jeremy
So airtight shipping containers.
Ginger
That was. I don't know if someone mentioned it to us or if it was your idea, but we started looking up shipping containers, and a massive shipping container is like 2,000 bucks.
Jeremy
Yeah. It's insane.
Ginger
I think most people wouldn't do that because they have the aesthetic. They have an hoa. They're in a neighborhood because we have some property behind us. We tuck it away.
Jeremy
You can't even see it.
Ginger
Can't even see it. And so I had my buddy come out with a skid steer and he leveled some land. We're gonna throw a shipping container in there and have our shed for $2,000.
Jeremy
Brilliant. It's so much money.
Ginger
So that means we're getting our dining room back, which is.
Jeremy
I'm excited.
Ginger
All of this. It's a fascinating web we weave. All of this comes because you started looking for wood tables on Facebook Marketplace, found out your friend was moving. She gave us her table. Then we needed to open, clear our dining room. So we had to get a shroud.
Jeremy
If you give a pig a pancake,
Ginger
if you give a pig a pancake,
Jeremy
always think of this.
Ginger
Give a mouse a cookie.
Jeremy
Give mouse a cookie.
Ginger
Going to ask for a glass of milk.
Jeremy
Oh, my gosh.
Ginger
It really is like that. And I actually don't even know how we got on this conversation. Doom scrolling FaceTime. Screen time. You're on your phone.
Jeremy
This is what I do with my time. I save us.
Ginger
So you're saying you're very profitable on
Jeremy
your phone, Jeremy, I save us so much money on Facebook out of the
Ginger
hours you spend on your phone.
Jeremy
It's only when I'm putting the baby down, literally, I will sit there. As I'm putting Finn down, as I'm nursing him, I have to sit still. Otherwise, I'm getting up doing all the things I need to do around the house. I don't like to sit and scroll in the middle of the day. It bothers me.
Ginger
So what's your screen time?
Jeremy
We're not going to talk about that.
Ginger
You know what's funny is screen time is the new, like, don't ask Her. Her age.
Jeremy
I'm actually really curious, you know what I mean? But I'm not going to read it to you guys. I'm just going to see if it's good enough to share. If it feels like it's a good
Ginger
week, I'm going to pull up mine.
Jeremy
Yours is actually going to be better than mine.
Ginger
Okay.
Jeremy
I nurse the baby a lot.
Ginger
I'm actually a little bit proud of this. I don't know. I actually don't know if I'm proud of this.
Jeremy
Facebook. Just.
Ginger
What's your daily app?
Jeremy
I can't do anything on. Aside from that.
Ginger
You can say, where do I see it?
Jeremy
It's three hours and how many minutes? It has a.5.
Ginger
Okay, so you're almost. I'm four hours, 43 minutes.
Jeremy
But you know what? That also. What also goes into that?
Ginger
What?
Jeremy
Jeremy? That's a lot of time. I gotta cut that down. I'm really embarrassed. How do you even see. I don't even know how to see the activity.
Ginger
No, but here's the thing. Here's. Here's what I'm not upset about.
Jeremy
This is really bad.
Ginger
So I'm. I'm averaging about. Well, no, I'm only like 30 minutes on Instagram. So social media. It's. Because that's a limit. Or. No, 25. I have it at 25. Yeah, I have it locked at 25. So today I had 22 minutes on Instagram. The rest is actually stuff I'm kind of not upset with. Like, like Google Docs, Safari. I got messages. I have news. New York Times phone. This is. This isn't bad. I'm not. But here's the problem. Can I just say this? I've been really ashamed of screen time in the past.
Jeremy
Well, this is mine. Okay. Okay, so it says the number one is an hour and 25 minutes on prime video because one of my kids was watching a learning video. An hour and 25 minutes on that. Okay, so then I have Instagram is one hour messages.
Ginger
You have a. Do you have a limit on Instagram?
Jeremy
I do, but I have the passcode. Facebook.
Ginger
Wait, you have a limit?
Jeremy
Facebook is 46 minutes. And in that 46 minutes, I made us a lot of money. I mean, I spent a lot of money, but I made us a lot
Ginger
of money by saving us.
Jeremy
By saving us a lot of money on real wood. I cannot stand. This is my pet peeve when it comes to household stuff. I despise. I despise engineered wood. Like with a passion. So anything that's engineered wood, I'll give it. I'll feel it. I'm like, nope, nope, nope. Now it's gotta be real solid wood. Costs a lot of money. So I am all about.
Ginger
So buy used.
Jeremy
Buying used. Antique.
Ginger
Buy used and save the savings.
Jeremy
Save the difference. Right? Save the difference. This is the thing. I will not buy, like, upholstered things unless I look at the house and I'm like, oh, no.
Ginger
Yeah, you don't want to mess with bugs and stuff.
Jeremy
Yeah, don't do that. But anything that's solid wood or. I know.
Ginger
I love how your defense of your face, of your screen time. All of a sudden now we're talking about real wood versus engineered wood.
Jeremy
And then. Well, listen to this. It's true. I have to. And then nanit like, I mean, our baby monitor.
Ginger
Yeah, that's.
Jeremy
I use our baby monitor in Google Maps. That's.
Ginger
Let's establish this. Let's establish this. There are. The screen time can be inflated because of necessary. Like, Nana is justifying now. No, no, this is good. Nana is baby monitor, Google Maps, it all counts. So sometimes you're looking at it going, I spent four hours on my phone. That's crazy. What was I doing for four hours? That's half of a workday. But then you realize it's something that's playing the back. Or you drove 30 minutes and your Google Maps was on. Or music. That's another thing. For a while, music got me. And I'm like, I spent all this time. Oh, yeah. I had music on. And so it's like counting as a. The other day, I had seven hours. And I'm like, I came to you. I'm like, I'm like, babe, I'm addicted to my phone. Something's wrong with me. I spent seven hours. And then I checked.
Narrator/Advertiser
Why?
Ginger
Because I'm like, what did I do for seven hours today? And it said, like, three hours on prime video. And I'm like, wait a second. So I realized, like, oh, all the devices like iPads and stuff are connected to screen time. I don't know if you all knew that that might be real for you, too. And you had gone to the beach, which was like an hour and a half each way.
Jeremy
Oh. And I downloaded. Yep. I had all those shows.
Ginger
They get to watch movies on the drive on the way to the beach back.
Jeremy
Yeah.
Ginger
And so then immediately I'm like, oh. Like, the conviction left me. Cause I was like seven hours on my phone.
Jeremy
Oh, I wouldn't. If I noticed it was seven hours, I would let you know. I'd Be like, what are you doing on your phone? Cause you do a good job. I feel like for the most part, we do try to stay off of our phones. It's hard, but, like, trying to stay off of our phones, especially in front of the kids. Yeah, we need to do better. Like, even at night, Game Pigeon gets us.
Ginger
It does get us.
Jeremy
Game Pigeon. That's what keeps us awake at night.
Ginger
I don't know what you guys think about Game Pigeon.
Jeremy
It was a thing of the past and we brought it back.
Ginger
Game Pigeon, they've got.
Jeremy
How many hours do we have on Game Pigeon? Is that messages? That's messages. That's why I have 46 seconds.
Ginger
So here's Game Pigeon. I don't know if you guys have this. Maybe if you're an Android user.
Jeremy
That's funny.
Ginger
Tough luck. Game Pigeon is fun. And I've got to admit, like, we. We will sometimes, you know, it's like time to relax. In the evening, kids are in bed and we sit on the couch and just play Game Pigeon back and forth. It's fun. I've been playing Austin Forsyth on some epic sea battles.
Jeremy
Are you winning?
Ginger
Yeah, I've been crushing them every time.
Jeremy
Every time.
Ginger
Not every time. He's good at archery, which doesn't surprise me because he's good that in real life.
Jeremy
Yeah. Screen time is. It's fascinating.
Ginger
So I looked this up the other day. Ginge.
Jeremy
Yeah.
Ginger
Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids, on average, nine to 11 hours of screen time a day.
Jeremy
That's very, very sad. Gosh. I'm just thinking, like, do you have time for people.
Ginger
That's a good clip, like, of you going, yeah, that's really sad as you're on your phone.
Jeremy
No, I was actually looking at something very profitable. But that is actually very sad because I'm thinking, at what point do you actually have time for genuine connection and for the people who are around you? Those moments are passing by so quickly. And I'm just thinking, like, even as a kid, I look back and I'm like, thinking, we did not have a lot of screens around our house. And how crazy is that? Now that kids have access to screens everywhere and then social media, that's where we do try to make it a point to not let them use iPads, even at home. I mean, rarely. Only if they cannot use the big screen for something, there's a reason, then I will maybe give them an iPad. But we don't use iPads because I don't want them having a small screen and just being pulled in and A movie or video on a big screen is different for how they engage. But I'm just thinking, like, at what point do you feel, like, this connection that kids are looking for, even socially, like young people, teens? How would that have been? I mean, for you? You didn't have a screen, you didn't have a phone.
Ginger
I was in high school, I think, sophomore year, when the first iPad came out. And that was like. Cause I would walk around. Gosh, I'm old. I would walk around with CD player and listen to a CD player in school. And that was distraction enough. And then a buddy of mine behind me got an iPad and it was like. I think it was the random one. I forget what you call them, but Nano, I think maybe where you just hit next and it just plays a random song. And that was a distraction. And then in my, I think sophomore year of college. No, freshman year of college, the first iPhone came out. And that was like, whoa, what is this thing? We had blackberries. My buddy in high school had a BlackBerry. And I thought he was cool. Cause he had a calculator in his pocket. And so, I mean, again, I'm dating myself, but MySpace was. I was in high school and MySpace came out.
Jeremy
What is MySpace? You don't know?
Ginger
What, MySpaces?
Jeremy
I can't remember. I never had that, but I just don't know what it is.
Ginger
Yeah, you wouldn't have had Facebook or anything.
Jeremy
Nothing until Instagram.
Narrator/Advertiser
Really?
Ginger
That was the first time you're ever on social media. And that's after we were married. Yeah, you. Wow. Okay. And was that a rule in your house? Like, no social media or.
Jeremy
I don't know. I think I. I think. Actually, take that back. I think I got an Instagram account for a few days and I was like, wait, I don't even know what this is. I don't know how to use it. And I deleted it. And then before. Right before we got married, we were engaged and I had. I got an Instagram account. That way it wouldn't be taken with my name.
Narrator/Advertiser
Interesting.
Ginger
Yeah, yeah. MySpace was like the original. Facebook kind of kicked some of this stuff off. I think it's the first.
Jeremy
It was Facebook or it was the
Ginger
original AOL Instant Message. No, it's not Facebook. It's a different company. But it was AOL Instant messenger was like a chat, an online chat. And then you'd have MySpace. And we just used it to literally communicate as friends. Cause we didn't even have cell phones like that.
Jeremy
Oh, yeah, that makes sense.
Ginger
By that time, I had a Cell phone. But you were paying 25 cents per text message. That's. Back in the day, people would be like, hey, on a text message. And you're thinking, don't ask me. Hey, you just wasted everything you need.
Jeremy
Now, I have a question about that, because why do phone companies still sometimes say unlimited talk and text like that? Seems so hilarious to me. Every time I hear that on an ad or whatever data rates may apply, I'm like, well, who's getting charged? Unless you're calling outside of the United States.
Ginger
Yeah, I mean, there could be roaming and stuff like that, but I'm like,
Jeremy
that seems so weird. Yeah, but that's like a thing of the past.
Ginger
Yeah. I don't know. I haven't heard of anyone in years who has to pay for their text messages.
Jeremy
But they still say that.
Ginger
I mean, you obviously pay for your plan, but I mean, maybe people, maybe they're buying plans where they are limited text messages. But there was a time where text messages were very scarce. So it'd be like, hey, we're gonna meet at Denny's at 12 o'. Clock. Be there. You know, and everything was one text and that was it.
Jeremy
Isn't that what pagers. What were pagers for, though? I remember my dad had a pager.
Ginger
Pager is just telling you it's a phone number. So you'd get alerted and there would be a phone number and you're knowing, okay, I've gotta call this person.
Jeremy
But it wouldn't give you a message.
Ginger
Wouldn't give you a message. Yeah, I don't believe so now, that's a little bit before my time, too. Like, we never.
Jeremy
I remember a pager. It was small and my dad had one, I think, really interesting, as far as I remember.
Ginger
Yeah. But I just think, okay, how have we gone from that where screen time wasn't a thing until now? It's like teenagers are spending 11 hours a day on their screens. 11 hours a day.
Jeremy
That's very sad, actually. And that's where I think, even with myself, what I am convicted about is like, if my kids see me on my phone, as all parents say. Now, I don't want my kids to see me on my phone all the time, because then they're gonna think that that's more important than being present 100%. And so I do think of that a lot. And if I have to do something and my kids are in front of me, I'll say, like, okay, this is what Mommy's doing real quick. I need to respond to somebody. They asked me a question or I just need to do this quick post and I'll be done. And I do try to keep it to that if the kids are around, because I don't want them thinking that this is what's gonna. This is what I'm on all the time, this, whatever, because that's how they're learning. And technology doesn't have to be horrible, but also, I know it's not best for you. And so I don't know, I have that fear of like, you don't wanna limit everything so much to where when they're a little bit older, they're gonna be like, oh, I never got to play a video game in my life, so now I'm gonna just play video games all day. Cause I have the choice. So I think that it should be in moderation. But also half of this is like, we have right over there, I see a Wii. It's like this box with like a Wii in it. I'm so anti that I'm so anti screens. I'm so anti shows. I will put myself through absolute chaos before I will give them a show if I don't have to, because I want to be determined to get them outside or do a craft. But recently I've been in a season where it's been a little bit more tricky. In the summer, we don't have as much of a routine, but there's also
Ginger
something kind of magical to like there are some mornings. So during the school year, Saturday mornings are cartoons. During the summer, I actually don't mind, like, we'll wake up and Felicity has already turned on Masha and the bear and Evie sneaks out of bed and they sit there cuddled on the couch watching. And it lets us sleep in a little bit.
Jeremy
It's awesome.
Ginger
That's great.
Jeremy
That's really sweet.
Ginger
And those are sweet summer memories too, for sure. You know, it's gonna like, they're about to go into a day of 10 hours of playing in the heat outside, running all over the place, getting money, and they start their day with cartoons. I'm cool with that.
Jeremy
I don't mind it at all. That's the side where I'm like, okay, this has to be balanced and letting the kids do a little screen time. Or it's like mid afternoon, it's really, really hot outside. Bring them in, give them a popsicle and let them watch a show for an hour or a movie for two hours. So I feel like this is the only time that I would use screen time is just when the Days are longer.
Ginger
As long as it's not a supplement to. To our responsibility.
Jeremy
Yeah, and I don't think it is.
Ginger
And there are other. I mean, there are some parents who are under such incredible stresses. It's like their lifeline. And it's actually a blessing to them because instead of having to hire somebody to come and they can't afford somebody to come watch your kids for two hours, they know, okay, they're in that room. I put a movie on for them. I can get this done.
Jeremy
Or sometimes even like in dinner prep. I feel like that's the time where some days it's just so difficult.
Ginger
4 to 5 o' clock hour is a tough hour.
Jeremy
It's the roughest hour with littles, I feel like, at least for most moms, I've heard. But that's also a time where I'm like, okay, I don't want to be afraid of using that screen time as an opportunity for me to just catch my breath and not be as frustrated. And I do need to just not be frustrated in general. But that helps. Just to have that moment where I'm able to, like, focus on something. And I still have, you know, a little toddler who's not gonna watch that. He's running around. Finney is just so busy climbing on everything, getting into everything. But it makes it a little more simple. Cause half the time I will. If I have rice made in advance or something, I will give him some of that as I'm prepping everything else. And he's already kind of eating as I'm making dinner, you know. Cause it's tricky. It's like, how do you juggle that? And that's my use for screen time with kids.
Ginger
I think the other thing is to watch how it's affecting them and their view of reality. Because, like, our kids aren't even anywhere close to having a phone, but so they're watching cartoons and stuff. But I think what we sometimes fail to realize is that this generation of teenager or preteen, their whole worldview is being shaped by social media. And we're wrestling with it in our 30s, the idealization of life. Looking at people who are presenting life in a certain way that makes us think our life is miserable because they don't put certain things on social media. And naturally you wouldn't. Right. But then you can, you know, you. You use social media for your friends. Well, you can scroll through and easily start to think, man, they've got it better than us, man. They're not struggling with what we're struggling with, man, they have nicer things than we have. Yeah, man, life looks so easy for them. And I'm really struggling here.
Jeremy
That's such a good point.
Ginger
And you start to covet, you start to think really negatively about your own experience.
Jeremy
I think that's really, really true. And at the same time, I think that there's the other side of it. So I'm cautious in how I share on social media from one way or another because I think that everybody has a certain viewpoint of what they're gonna share on social media, what they're not gonna share. And there's that side of like having it perfectly polished altogether. But then there's also the other side of like, I'm so real. And they're showing every situation, every scenario, every meltdown and you're like, hey, maybe don't. It's like, please don't put that on social media. I don't really want to see that. Like, no one's wanting to see this content. So there's a balance in all of that. But I think trying to navigate the why behind it. And also like you said, I think that getting off of social media and getting into the real world, it's harder to do that and develop true friendships where you're being vulnerable in person and you're actually sharing your life with people who know you and care about you, as opposed to just sitting behind the screen and feeling like you have a ton of friends just because you have followers or you're following these certain influencers lives. So I have friends.
Ginger
But yeah, it's a question of like that question that you just asked is really, really, really good of why are you doing this? Why are you posting that photo? And I think a lot of people, honest, if we're honest with ourselves, would say I'm posting that so that people think better of me or want to be like me or to elicit jealousy. Then there's other reasons of. I'm posting it, you know, because I want to let the world know how mad I am or whatever. But what's your motivation? And I've, I've, you know, I've started my, my, I've shifted a little bit in my use of like Instagram, for instance. I really see my posts now if, unless they're like theological or pastoral or something like that kind of as memory capsule. So I'll put up a song that we've been listening to in that season, in that time with pictures from like a trip or something, and I'll put up a carousel of 15 pictures. And some of them are great pictures that I think, you know, I, oh, that's an artistic picture. Some are not.
Jeremy
You're very artistic.
Ginger
They capture a moment.
Jeremy
I like it.
Ginger
But I kind of like going through my Instagram and going, oh, I can pull up certain moments in life that are nostalgic for me, whether people appreciate them or not. But for all of us to analyze, like, why am I putting this up? You know, am I trying to. What am I trying to evoke out of people that will look at this? Or am I just simply trying to evoke people to look at it so that it fulfills something in me? Like, oh, 40,000 people liked my photo. I feel better about myself today. Really? That's what was required to make you feel better about yourself.
Jeremy
Like, which we've always said this. That's such a good point too, because if you're going there to social media to find satisfaction, fulfillment, like how people say good stuff about you, I mean, we've been through this so many times where it's like, if that's my motivation. And sometimes I will say I've had seasons where I feel like, you know, you can just start to head that way and you're thinking and like, oh, my goodness, I got this attention, or somebody said this, that nice thing about me. And the second that that happens, I think it's not healthy because it will be taken away from you because the next comment's gonna be mean and cruel and saying something that you're like, oh, my goodness, I cannot believe somebody would ever say that.
Ginger
And so the wild comments, not finding
Jeremy
your satisfaction at that. But it's easy for us. Even as, you know, like, I would say as 30 year olds, you know, you see you're beyond the teen years and you can look at things objectively. Like, I look back at myself as a teen and the struggles I was having, even with the eating disorder. Like, even just with my friends around me and people I would see. But then if I had social media, I feel like that would have been so much worse had I had social media over those years. And the insecurities that you feel, the polished look of everybody's skin, it's always like, everything's always put together, even in this. Like, I'll watch a clip, like I said last week of the podcast pieced together and I'm like, oh, my goodness, I have wrinkle there. Or there's like dark circle under my eyes. Sleep deprived mom. I wish I could just take that away. Like, I'm not gonna Lie. You look at those things. But then also realizing, wait, I don't wanna be so vain where it looks like, oh, I'm just constantly polished and always have everything together. My hair was done, my nails done, my makeup done, and I have my life together, you know, because it's not gonna be reality forever. And it's not bad to look great, for sure. It's not bad to have make a person look put together. I'm not saying that's bad, but what is my focus in it and what am I trying to compare myself to compare myself to?
Ginger
I just can't imagine the. Yeah, like I said, the temptation for us. Imagine being 14 and dealing with that.
Jeremy
It's really hard.
Ginger
There's the book the Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt, I think. Jonathan Haidt, yeah. H A I D T. The Anxious how the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. Fascinating book, but it addresses this constant comparison that social media creates where it's never good enough. And so if you were to look at your life objectively, all you would see is blessing. I mean, as the Lord has just poured blessing, just the opportunity to live. And yet something like social media will put this lens on our minds where whatever we see in someone else, we look at ourselves and it's not good enough. And so either maybe you're tempted in two ways. One is you go on Instagram, you go on social media to cut people down, to feel better about yourself, or you go on there and it just starts to evoke jealousy and covetousness, and you're not satisfied, you're not happy. You don't get off going, man, I am so grateful for my life. You get off thinking, oh, man, I need to look prettier or more handsome. I need to have better stuff. And for little kids, it's eating them alive. And I just think there's a. I don't know, the responsibility of adults, first of all, to protect your kids. It's a huge thing. Like, I want Felicity and Evie and little Finny Boy to have an objective view of themselves that's not constantly being measured up against everyone else.
Jeremy
That's so tricky. I feel like even as, you know, what people call an influencer, I hate that word in many ways, but I'm saying being in the social media space face, I. I do want to think about that. And like, it is a stewardship. It's a responsibility that you have to people who are following you. But there's a balance in that because it also can be a Fun place just to like enjoy, share nice content, whatever or humor, whatever you're there for. On social media, there's not, that's. There can be a harmless aspect to it, sure. But then on the responsibility side of it, that's, that's something that I feel like it. Yeah. It kind of makes me stop and think again just about content that I've shared and want to share. And it's, it's hard because I'm like. Social media often does not feel like the platform to be able to share very deep and to go very deep.
Ginger
But at the same time people. One of the things phenomenons about social media has, it's allowed people to go right to the source and they feel like they know you. So 40 years ago, 20 years ago, if you saw an athlete on TV, you would have zero access to them. Social media has created a bridge of access.
Jeremy
Even back in the time when I was filming. It's crazy because I look at that and those shows would be aired six months in advance, they'd air six months later and then everybody was grown up and it's wild. I think that is the tricky thing is everything's right now. Show you everything. I am more guarded on social media. I'll acknowledge that here. It's. I don't put everything out. I don't want people knowing my routines, my daily schedule for safety. I don't want, you know, every little detail about my life out there. I like to keep things, you know, where my friends know my schedule, they know where I go on a daily basis or where I work out, things like that. But there's a certain level of like, okay, there's, there's wisdom in this and you don't have to share everything on the day it happened, everything that you did. And also like I don't know, I'm like part of it is too. You'll. It's funny. I posted a reel recently cause I saw this and I was like, this is so relatable. You see the perfect house. And I had shared a couple reels about our house. We love our home. We're so thankful to be here. It's a gift. But it's also very old. So it's kind of funny when you actually come into our house and you look around, we get frustrated at little things. Like Finn pulls these, there's these bricks on the wall. They're kind of like they're real bricks but they're like glued on half of the wall. My father in law was over yesterday looking at it and he's like, wow. Finn pulled half of the bricks off the wall in the front room, in the living room, and the grout falls off the wall. That's happening up in our bathroom. There's like a planter that, like, is next to our bathroom.
Ginger
That bathroom needs to be old.
Jeremy
It needs to be remodeled. But we're like, the amount of effort and time and money it's going to take to do all this project, school, or you look around the house is like, it's not perfect. And me on Facebook Marketplace, I'm like, no matter what we have, I'm going to get a bargain. I'm going to get a bargain. I don't want to spend full price on anything. Maybe to my detriment, but there's this side of it where I'm like, no, this is our. This is our real life, and I'm not going to be ashamed of that. I'm not acting like I have everything. And we're not just going to, like, throw money out just because, oh, you know, you have this or I've been given this. Well, no, I'm going to be the one bargain hunting probably till the day I die. I'm going to be at thrift stores. I'm going to be at Facebook Marketplace. No matter what you have. And then you can be generous with more because you have been given that money. Then you use it over here or to bless this person or whatever God's put before you. So I'm just saying social media paints things a certain way of how people are living and what they're actually doing. And then nine times out of 10, like, if you step into a mom's house, then you're gonna see, wow. Like, not everybody's birthday parties are gonna cost two or three grand. Like, half of us go to the dollar store and spend maybe 20 bucks on decorations and get a cake from Costco and pizza from Costco, and that's enough. So it's not to say that the big extravagant things are bad. That's great. If you have money and you wanna spend it on that, do it.
Ginger
Oh, totally.
Jeremy
Sweet. But also, not everybody's lives are going to look like they do on social media. And that's okay. So anyhow, needless to say, I can go on a rab down a rabbit trail just talking about all that all day.
Ginger
But, yeah, it just makes you think. You want to steward. Steward it well and use it for the dumb, silly reels. Use it for deep, profound truths. I mean, it's incredible. The news that's communicated Via social media. The gospel truths that are communicated via social media. And it's just this tool in our hands. Right. But yeah, I was just thinking, man, it's tough for the kids these days, and I think they need the parents to step in and help them out in a lot of ways with the screen times, because it can. Before you know it,
Jeremy
it'll take over your time and that'll be. It's like the new video games, just social media, just a phone. But I love. A couple of our friends have actual flip phones for certain days.
Ginger
Oh, yeah.
Jeremy
So we have a couple friends who do this, and I think it's brilliant. It's like one of our friends has a Sunday phone. And I'm like, that's so cool. Because, like, even for one day, you'll just, you know, he's not on his other phone. And I'm like, that is a decision. And as hard as it is, it seems for us, we're like, oh, I have to have maps. I have to have whatever. Like, your little dumb phone can help you get stuff done, too.
Ginger
Yep. I have in my phone, it's saved as Owen on Sunday.
Jeremy
I love it.
Ginger
And there's been so many times I've called him or texted him to his regular phone, and I'm like, man, this guy is impossible to get a hold of. And I realized, oh, it's Sunday.
Jeremy
He doesn't have his other phone.
Ginger
He doesn't have his other phone. It's just, like, tucked away.
Jeremy
Yeah, just a phone number.
Ginger
There are some apps. I've been looking up apps, too. There's one called Blank. So if you don't do the dumb phone thing on your phone, which you can just. It's a setting you. You set. But blank is one. I saw another app where turns your phone into basically a flip phone. And a lot of the appeal of our phones. Simon. Simon Sinek writes a lot about. This is like the. The hit of dopamine. It gives you. That's why when you, like, press on the screen, it vibrates and it feels good. Or you hear the ding, or you see these little. You know, your app has a little red bubble in the corner with the number of emails that you. You haven't read.
Jeremy
That stresses me out.
Ginger
And it's meant to. It's meant to pull you in. It's meant to, like, evoke something from you.
Jeremy
Anger, Frustration. Anger.
Ginger
What these apps do is they just. Yeah, they just simplify things where it just says messages, emails, weather, and it removes all of the sensory appeal that keeps you actually creates that addiction for your phone and that constant need to respond immediately and that constant need to look and see what's new and see what's happening.
Jeremy
I feel like I'm the opposite, though, when it comes to text messages, phone calls, and emails. Anytime I see that red thing, I'm
Ginger
like, oh, just ignore it.
Jeremy
I can't stand it. I can't stand it. Messages are not my thing. I. I don't like it. I don't like it. Okay.
Ginger
Anyhow, that's funny. Anyway, man. Well, screen time, man. Ginger, that was. That was a little vulnerable of us to kind of.
Jeremy
Was it?
Ginger
Yeah, to share. To share our screen time on there. That's a big one. That's a big one. Hope we don't get too judgment. Nobody's going to judge us. It's the Internet.
Jeremy
They can judge us.
Ginger
Nobody's gonna judge us, babe. It's social media. People never judge on social media.
Jeremy
Don't judge.
Ginger
They'll only be nice.
Jeremy
Thanks.
Ginger
All right, guys. Well, thanks for hanging out. I hope you guys have a wonderful week and are enjoying this summer, and we'll see you, God willing, next.
Podcast: The Jinger & Jeremy Podcast
Hosts: Jinger Vuolo & Jeremy Vuolo
Date: June 24, 2026
In this candid and relatable episode, Jinger and Jeremy Vuolo dive into the topic of screen time—from personal habits to parenting challenges in the digital age. Blending vulnerability and humor, the couple reflects on their own phone usage, share funny family anecdotes, and examine the deeper impact of screens and social media on well-being, relationships, and childhood development. Seamlessly blending real-life stories with broader cultural commentary, this episode offers insights for anyone navigating the ever-expanding influence of technology.
"They've designed your phone to draw you in with all the colors and all the effects and all that." [06:06 – Jinger]
[06:30-09:52; 17:32-22:14] The couple playfully compares their weekly average screen time, feeling a mix of embarrassment, pride, and justification:
[23:24-33:26] Jinger & Jeremy discuss setting boundaries for their children’s screen time:
[33:26-41:16] The conversation turns to social media’s impact on self-image, motivation, and vulnerability:
"If that's my motivation...it will be taken away from you because the next comment's gonna be mean and cruel." [36:30 – Jeremy]
[45:41-47:51] The Vuolos acknowledge the need for breaks and boundaries, both for themselves and their kids:
| Segment | Topic | Timestamp | |---------|-------|-----------| | Life Updates & Weddings | [01:33]–[05:10] | | Black & White Mode: Reducing Phone Appeal | [05:22]–[06:28] | | Phone Usage & Facebook Marketplace Antics | [06:30]–[09:52]; [17:32]–[22:14] | | Discussion on Parenting, Kids & Screens | [23:24]–[33:26] | | Social Media & Mental Health | [33:26]–[41:16] | | Digital Minimalism & Healthy Boundaries | [45:41]–[47:51] |
On Phone Use Guilt:
On Kids & Screens:
On Social Media Motivation:
On Digital Boundaries:
The episode strikes a conversational, humorous, and self-aware tone. The hosts oscillate between playful teasing, honest confessions, and thoughtful reflection—often using their own relationship as an example. They invite listeners to consider their own screen habits, the role of technology in families, and the importance of intentionality—without shaming or offering simplistic solutions.
Jinger and Jeremy Vuolo’s episode on screen time is a timely, honest, and practical conversation for anyone navigating technology’s role in everyday life. By openly sharing their own struggles and strategies, they remind listeners that digital balance is both a challenge and a worthy pursuit—for kids, parents, and everyone in between.