Too Much Screen Time

Before I had kids, I would watch how friends and family were raising their children. I started making a mental list of all the things I would never do or allow my children to do based on my observations. You might make a list, or have ideas, but that all went out the window when my children arrived. One area I thought I would regulate to the extreme was going to be screen time.

I know too much of anything is never good. No one should spend the majority of their day sitting in front a screen whether to watch a program or video, or working or playing games.  I try to live my life by the Ancient Greek moto Moderation in All Things.

My two sons probably watch more television and play more video games than they should.  My 6 year old is really good at cutting himself off when he feels he's played or watched enough if we haven't cut him off by the time he decides to stop. My 2 year old has only just recently discovered the joys of watching tv and playing on a tablet. His favorite shows are SuperWhy, Little Einsteins, and this nursery rhyme called Little Baby Bum. We watch at least 1 episode of each on Netflix everyday.  He would spend a lot more time if I allowed him to, but the thing is he doesn't spend the entire time just sitting there watching and neither does my 6 year old. We do set timers for tablets, but if something happens to be on TV and they are familiar with it already or just not interested, they spend the time playing with their toys and puzzles.

Each one of us is different. We approach our life differently based on our experiences and our knowledge. I grew up an only child and frequently, I used television for company. Just to hear other voices. A lot of people use music in the background and I like to have on a movie or a TV episode. And that is one big reason it is hard for me to extremely limit my children's screen time, I have difficulty regulating myself.