Alright, alright. I know I already posted about how using screens should not inflict guilt, and I stand by that 100%, BUT I want to share something AWESOME that happened in our house a couple weeks ago!!
Maybe I was feeling particularly strong, or maybe my kids had watched a little too much of a very annoying kids show which shall not be named, or I just wanted to be a #meanmom, but I decided to say no. No TV. No iPad. No old iPhone with kid apps on it.
At first the fight was frightening, the wailing and moaning and thrashing on the floor.
But then it stopped! It didn’t even last that long, probably because I deliberately ignored it (woohoo! I usually am not that tough), but really, we were out of it within an hour.
The rest of the day, my kids played so well! The next day, they woke up and went straight to the Lego Duplos where the built towers and cars and, my personal favorite: Mickey Mouse Clubhouses of all shapes and sizes. They worked together and they played pretend for hours. Their “need” for the devices had disappeared!
It was such a nice break from the constant asking for one screen or another. And all it took was me to be emotionally well enough to say no and to calmly deal with the backlash for maybe an hour. It also helped me realize that kids are so resilient, and I haven’t ruined them yet! We can always change things up and improve, no one has to keep life the same day in and day out.
The babes have since gotten sick, and in an attempt to keep them in one place, I put the iPad in front of them for hours, so we are back to square one.
But hey, one day at a time!
