By Angela Kaye Mason
Jan 11 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Life organizer, “Peter Walsh” moved in with a family, to help them get their lives back. They shared how each of them are so into their electronics, such as cell phones and computers, that they never see each other. There is only a couple of times a month that they even sit and eat together and even then it is rushed, like “I have to go hurry and check Facebook.” To friends and neighbors, they look like the perfect family, but on the inside, they are disconnected and losing each other. Peter said that this problem is way more common than most people think. His plan, “Stripped Down” is about getting rid of whatever is between you and happiness. Peter gave this family five rules.

1. No cells phones and no texting for a week.
2. No electronics, or computers, television, computer games, or microwaves.
3. Prepare and eat healthy meals together.
4. Get your house organized and cleaned up.
5. Must hug and say “I love you” to everyone in the family daily.

Oprah asked Peter “How can we be sure that no one cheats?” and Peter showed them “The Vault”which will hold all of the family’s electronics. They are to leave the show, and have until noon tomorrow to come with an activity that the family can enjoy together tomorrow night, and all the laundry in the house must be done. At 12 noon tomorrow, Peter is moving into the house for 7 days.

Today’s “Oprah Winfrey Show” followed this family for that week, and showed us all the tears, and joys, and how this worked out for them. After the first initial assignments, they were told to clean out the garage together, and they all agreed that they had fun doing it. This was done in the first day, in under two hours. On the third day, the family finally “broke” and cried as they shared their concerns which had led them to be disconnected. Peter said that this always happens on the third day. He added that once everything slowed down, all the honesty rose to the surface, and the things that they had been holding in, came out. On day 4 they all came up with new rules for the family that would be permanent.

1. No Cell phones and texting between 6 and 9 pm.
2. No electronics, computers and televisions until a certain, agreed upon time.
3. Keep the healthy meal rule.
4. Saturday clean up day.
5. Keep the hugs and “love you” rule, and add a once monthly date night for Mom and Dad, and a family night once a week for everyone.

Then Peter sent them on a road trip to Chicago, to Harpo Studios as a family. They had to do at least three activities along the way. It was a two day trip, and they had to follow the rules, which meant that they were not simply riding along with headphones on. This week long experiment seemed to really get this family to reconnect. It looks as though it was a great success!