Screen Time
So I've been feeling this way for a while now and I've finally decided to do something about it. The amount of screen time my family has been getting is just too much. It has been spiraling out of control. I understand that winter can be more difficult but now that Spring is here, I'm ready to quit cold turkey!
I have learned something about myself over the last few years. Being productive makes me happy. Being unproductive makes unhappy. And productivity leads to creativity. Now to clarify, I think plenty of things are productive: reading, developing talents, having hobbies, talking to people, brainstorming, etc. I'm not saying I have to be "working" all of the time. But I just don't feel good about myself or my kids when we spend too much time in front of a screen (TV/computer/phone/etc).
I grew up without much screen time. We watched our fair share of movies, but we didn't have cable or even any local channels so TV was really not an option. I grew up before the internet or really even much of a home computer. We had an atari when I was younger but never got into the other up and coming gaming systems. I really kind of missed that whole video game thing. I was probably middle school age when the Nintendo came out and being a girl and not having one at home, I just never got into it.
When I was seeing my kids finding media and electronics for EVERY free moment they had, it started making me sick. They would go from one thing to the next. If I took away my phone, they'd go to my computer. If I told them no more computer, they'd go turn on the TV. If I said turn off the TV, they'd go play the Wii. It was getting ridiculous!
A few weeks ago Isaac stayed home from school. He was mildly sick and honestly I think he was just milking it a little. And he probably thought he could veg on electronics all day since he was "sick." I told him he couldn't have a single minute of screen time if he stayed home from school (thinking maybe he'd just go to school if he knew what his day at home would be like). It was like torture for him! He was seriously addicted! I had to watch him constantly or he'd sneak off to find some electronic to play on. It honestly scared me a little to watch that. I realized my entire family needed a digital detox!
So I came up with a plan. Saturday morning while Jeff was hiking with the Young Men, I gathered the kids around the kitchen counter and we talked about how much screen time we were spending each day. I showed them these two videos (ironic, I know):
Elder Bednar: Things As They Really Are
and
Look Up
We talked about having real experiences, having real memories, building real relationships with real people and not wasting time in front of a screen. They were gung ho to make some drastic changes. Even Isaac was ready to give it up 100% starting right now. "Let's never use electronics again!" came the cries of the children. I wanted a long term, realistic solution so we decided that we would not use any electronics (screens) until after 7pm each day. I figured that way they would be able to learn to moderate their behavior, have ample time to be "bored" and have to find something else to fill their time with rather than just wasting time waiting until their screen time came, and they go to bed and read at 8pm anyway so that automatically limits it to about an hour or less per day.
It's been nearly two weeks now and it has been so awesome! They really struggled the first few days but now they are finding so many more productive, creative, fun things to do. I'll be honest, it's way more work as a mom. Tons of messes. Creativity is messy. But worth it! We've baked cookies, made playdough, colored, done crafts, played games, done puzzles. The kids have built forts, played outside TONS, played legos, and tons more. It has been tons of quality stuff. It's also meant that I've had to be a good example and limit my own screen time. That's been a little hard with trying to get everything ready for girls camp but it's worth it! I've found myself reading more, talking with my kids more, interacting with my kids more and even a little more time in the kitchen! I LOVE IT! I don't ever want to go back!
I have learned something about myself over the last few years. Being productive makes me happy. Being unproductive makes unhappy. And productivity leads to creativity. Now to clarify, I think plenty of things are productive: reading, developing talents, having hobbies, talking to people, brainstorming, etc. I'm not saying I have to be "working" all of the time. But I just don't feel good about myself or my kids when we spend too much time in front of a screen (TV/computer/phone/etc).
I grew up without much screen time. We watched our fair share of movies, but we didn't have cable or even any local channels so TV was really not an option. I grew up before the internet or really even much of a home computer. We had an atari when I was younger but never got into the other up and coming gaming systems. I really kind of missed that whole video game thing. I was probably middle school age when the Nintendo came out and being a girl and not having one at home, I just never got into it.
When I was seeing my kids finding media and electronics for EVERY free moment they had, it started making me sick. They would go from one thing to the next. If I took away my phone, they'd go to my computer. If I told them no more computer, they'd go turn on the TV. If I said turn off the TV, they'd go play the Wii. It was getting ridiculous!
A few weeks ago Isaac stayed home from school. He was mildly sick and honestly I think he was just milking it a little. And he probably thought he could veg on electronics all day since he was "sick." I told him he couldn't have a single minute of screen time if he stayed home from school (thinking maybe he'd just go to school if he knew what his day at home would be like). It was like torture for him! He was seriously addicted! I had to watch him constantly or he'd sneak off to find some electronic to play on. It honestly scared me a little to watch that. I realized my entire family needed a digital detox!
So I came up with a plan. Saturday morning while Jeff was hiking with the Young Men, I gathered the kids around the kitchen counter and we talked about how much screen time we were spending each day. I showed them these two videos (ironic, I know):
Elder Bednar: Things As They Really Are
and
Look Up
We talked about having real experiences, having real memories, building real relationships with real people and not wasting time in front of a screen. They were gung ho to make some drastic changes. Even Isaac was ready to give it up 100% starting right now. "Let's never use electronics again!" came the cries of the children. I wanted a long term, realistic solution so we decided that we would not use any electronics (screens) until after 7pm each day. I figured that way they would be able to learn to moderate their behavior, have ample time to be "bored" and have to find something else to fill their time with rather than just wasting time waiting until their screen time came, and they go to bed and read at 8pm anyway so that automatically limits it to about an hour or less per day.
It's been nearly two weeks now and it has been so awesome! They really struggled the first few days but now they are finding so many more productive, creative, fun things to do. I'll be honest, it's way more work as a mom. Tons of messes. Creativity is messy. But worth it! We've baked cookies, made playdough, colored, done crafts, played games, done puzzles. The kids have built forts, played outside TONS, played legos, and tons more. It has been tons of quality stuff. It's also meant that I've had to be a good example and limit my own screen time. That's been a little hard with trying to get everything ready for girls camp but it's worth it! I've found myself reading more, talking with my kids more, interacting with my kids more and even a little more time in the kitchen! I LOVE IT! I don't ever want to go back!
Planting the garden.
It's a BIG lawn to mow but Calvin is getting pretty good at it!
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