An XFINITY Internet Family [Sponsored]

As I write this, I am in our home office off our bedroom, working on the blog. Downstairs, my husband finished editing photos for a recent photography gig and is using his laptop to email the client the link to the files. In her room, Emerson is watching an episode of Peppa Pig on YouTube via our tablet. Yesterday it rained; after a morning and early afternoon of Girl Scouts, dance class and errands, the three of us snuggled into my husband and my bed and grabbed the tablet to watch a family movie together. I promise we spend plenty of quality time together without electronics, but we can't help but admit that the Internet has become a part of daily life.

I really don't think that's a bad thing. When I was pregnant I swore my baby wouldn't even see a television screen until she was four. I'd limit TV to just a couple hours a week, and keep her far away from smartphones, tablets, and computers. But now that baby is 6, in school, and assigned computer-based homework and provided URLS to educational sites to visit. She can wield a smartphone or tablet better than her father, and we've found that WiFi can bring us together as a family from time to time.

When Karl and I moved in together in 2001, we felt we didn't need television. We had one, but we just watched DVDs on it. Then 9/11 happened; Karl didn't even know about it right away because he was at home disconnected from the Internet and television. I tried calling him from work but everyone else had the same idea and the lines were jammed. Once I got home that day we decided we needed a way to connect to the news and signed up for XFINITY® TV and Internet and have been a customer ever since. Now it's 2015 and being connected to the world is far more than a 24-hour news channel on TV. Not only that, Karl and I rely on the Internet for our jobs, and we find that XFINITY's in-home WiFi to be fast and reliable for all rooms of our house, all devices in our household.

I've been hesitant to write about products on Wardrobe Oxygen that aren't fashion or beauty related. When XFINITY® reached out to write about their Internet, I almost said no but then thought... I am reading this email from them on my smartphone, thanks to XFINITY® Internet. Wardrobe Oxygen is written at home on XFINITY® Internet. This blog wouldn't be if it weren't for the speed and reliability of XFINITY® Internet.

And yes, I'll admit it, I'm a parent who lets my child use devices. She has a locked-down YouTube account where she can watch kid-friendly videos in the kitchen with me while I'm cooking dinner; I prefer this to her being a zombie in front of the large TV in a completely different part of the house. She'll pause it to ask a question, happily put it down for us to have a conversation versus when she's in front of the bigger screen. We've downloaded a few games and apps that have helped her learn to spell, tell time, make art and music (I'm a fan of the apps by Toca Boca, they have inspired her to be creative and innovative; she'll often drop the tablet to go make something or draw something). As a family, it's fun to get in our pajamas in the middle of the afternoon and watch a movie on XFINITY On Demand on a tablet in our bed (come on, how decadent is it to eat popcorn in Mommy and Daddy's bed!). I think if you're smart about Internet usage, it can be a tool for a family to connect.

Visit http://www.comcast.com/internet-service.html to learn more about XFINITY® Internet