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Analog Doggie

The Great Screen-Time Swap

A cautionary scroll (on real paper!) by Doggie – digital-age plushie, analog snack champion.

It all started when Pandy looked up from his tea and said, “I think we should try a gadget-free day.”

I blinked. “You mean… like… no screens?”
“No screens. No scrolling. No beeping. Just presence.”
“But I love my beeping!”

Mini Blue turned a muted blue-gray—screen-time withdrawal empathy.

Still, I agreed. I mean, how hard could it be?

We hid the tablet. We locked the phone. We unplugged the TV (after saying goodbye). The house grew eerily quiet. I swear I could hear my own fluff settling.

By hour one, I had alphabetized the snack drawer.
By hour two, I started narrating my own imaginary TikTok videos out loud.

“What’s up plush squad, today we’re rating the Top 5 Crunch Sounds—number three may shock you…”

Pandy sipped tea with the patience of a thousand monks.
I attempted downward dog. Fell over. Called it plushie pilates.

Desperate to scratch the creative itch, I invented a new app. But make it paper.

Introducing: Analog TikTok.
Each flip-book was one “video.” Drawn by paw. Scanned by brain.
Episode 1: Cookie Does Backflip (And Crumbles Midair)
Episode 2: Doggie Lip-Syncs to Crinkly Bag Sounds
Episode 3: POV: You're a Grape Escaping the Fruit Bowl

I stacked them like a content buffet and spun through pages so fast they nearly caught fire.

Mini Blue, now bright coral-pink with excitement, pulled out a vintage camcorder (where did he even get that?) and filmed my finger flipping through the pages. Boom. Retro-viral.

By sundown, we’d made art, laughed a lot, and even built a flip-book of Pandy brewing tea in dramatic slo-mo. I caught him smiling.

“No screens… and you still made content,” he said.
“Plushies gotta post—even if it’s pretend.”

We ended the day with a cozy viewing party: one flip-book at a time, soundtracked by popcorn pops and occasional giggles.

Doggie’s Final Scroll

I’m not giving up my screens (have you seen Mini Blue’s baking videos?), but I gotta say—being unplugged gave my brain more snack space. I invented. I flipped. I flopped. And I remembered that imagination doesn’t need Wi-Fi.

Try the screen-time swap sometime. Just be warned: it may result in flip-book musicals and snack-based fame.