Listen here: I'm that annoying mom who refused to let her babies even look at a TV screen, never mind an iPad, until they passed the minimum age set forth by the American Academy of Paediatrics. If you already reap the benefits of screens in your family, skip ahead, but if you too are struggling with whether to go against whatever personal guidelines you've set up for your family with regard to overstimulating screens, please, give yourself some grace. We are dealing with unprecedented circumstances, and even if you are lucky enough to all be healthy at home, we're still all in survival mode. So, loosen up the reins if you can.
I know experts say that screen time shouldn't be used as a distraction, but that's precisely how I've used it when I've had to get through a workday with my kids. That doesn't mean I'm not strategic. I figure out when I'm going to need completely uninterrupted time, like if I have a conference call or need to give a presentation in a meeting, and I tell my kids, "At 11:30 a.m., you are going to get to watch two episodes of a show on Netflix!" I'll give them some options, or if I'm feeling charitable, let them pick a children's program that I personally find abhorrent. Then, when the time comes, I turn it on, go do my thing for an hour, and come right back to turn it off.
It's worked best with my family that they don't watch more than an hour at a time. Hence being strategic! And although I've tried to avoid bribes ("if you play quietly for the next 30 minutes, I'll put on a movie!"), I'm only human. I've definitely bribed them.
Image Source: Getty / Guido Mieth