When I was a kid we played outside. 

It was that simple. After school and homework, on the weekend and during holiday breaks we played with our neighborhood friends and didn’t come home until it was dark. Yes, we had a Nintendo, and eventually a Super Nintendo, but they were in the living room on a shelf under the TV in the entertainment center. My parents not only watched every second we played video games but they monitored how much time we spent playing them. They also didn’t have to worry about the online risks involved with video games on consoles nowadays. 

me as a baby... OUTSIDE!!!

  I must admit, @xtrodinarypilot @despool @xtdnrymompreneur and all the members of the Brown Household spend a ton of time in front of screens. We do not monitor the kids time like a lot of other parents, but we do monitor what their activity and content is. My husband and I are on our phones constantly, my husband works from home so he is on the computer often. 

Our kids all have Kindles, an XBOX One, a Wii, and an HTC Vive Virtual Reality system. We are also a family who enjoys watching movies! We even have an inflatable big screen and projector that we put up in the front yard and watch movies on.

 

 I wish my kids could play outside like I did as a kid but it’s just not realistic anymore. We live in a decently quiet neighborhood and have surrounding neighbors that have lived in their houses for 30+ years. But we are those parents that sit outside with our kids, even our 6 and 10 year olds, and watch them. I just don’t trust people. I hear too many stories of child abductions to feel comfortable. Every day we go outside and let them ride bikes, jump on trampolines, take walks, go to the park, or pool.    

Balance is the key!  Source: Simone Biles

As a mom, I find struggle with maintaining what I perceive as a healthy balance between screen time and creative outside play. It’s so easy to just let them play video games or watch videos, especially while trying to cook or get housework done when that’s what they want to do anyway. I know that once we get outside and breathe that fresh air, we all enjoy it so much. There are many critics when it comes to screen time for kids and numerous studies proving how we are all screwing up our kids by allowing them to be sucked into the virtual world. My way of thinking is that we try to balance things as much as possible in life. From junk food vs healthy food, chores that earn you money vs household expectations, educational learning vs creative learning and screen time vs outdoor play. We can’t do everything perfect, 100% of the time. Some days will be PJ wearing, video game playing, ramen soup days while others will be bike riding, swimming, grilled salmon, quinoa and broccoli.  We do a lot with our kids and that’s something I love about my husband and I, we love the outdoors and facilitating adventure in our kids’ lives. We might be a family of devices but we are also an outdoor/travel loving family like when we took our kids skydiving.   

  

How do you manage screentime?

@MrWang with Ethan

@VischangeFitness with your son

@prestigiouskids and @Cryptoblessings

@little-peppers

It takes a village.