Preparing for summer… and the tv
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Anonymous
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We have similar rules to you. We have a rule of no tv until after lunch. They need to play outside, read, create something and clean something. The clean something is I salt just them picking up their room and the toys they played with.
Where we live, the kids have been out of school for a month already and this has worked well for us. It’s so hot that by noon no one wants to be out, so the noon tv time works. I follow the car mom, and she has a fun summer time tradition which we started as well and my kids love. Kids get three popsicles a day, but they have to be eaten outside. Once we started doing this, my kids get way more outside time. |
Anonymous
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My oldest kid is 7, he just colors or reads in the morning.
I don't allow access to YouTube or similar unsupervised. If he wants a movie or TV, we put it on. I'm not unusually rigid on TV (we've been watching World axup matches) but 7 is too young for unsupervised media access, particularly internet content. |
Anonymous
+1 I don't know how old OP kids are but my oldest is 8 and has no way to turn on the TV on his own and no access to a computer or laptop without me either. We do watch stuff on the TV but nothing unsupervised and no way it would be YouTube on their own. If he's interested in a topic we will look up content together. OP they will have tantrums and bother you more (if you are hoping to sleep in) but you just have to pull the plug and they'll entertain themselves in other ways. You could start off with a "morning box" of activities stuff like many parents try for afternoon quiet time. |
Anonymous
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Who even has a tv anymore?
We don’t. I don’t know if anyone under 65 that does. Pad and computers require a parent to sign in, plus screen time can be set for 15 30 45 min. So it’s easy to restrict. |
Anonymous
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The no-TV answer is you start getting up earlier and get the day started. Early morning playground time in the summer is good because it’s not too brutally hot yet.
The less-TV answer is the popsicle stick method. Write on a popsicle stick the things they need to do before the TV can go on. As they complete each task, the popsicle stick goes into the “done” cup. When the cup has all five sticks, the TV can go on for a set period of time. Common ones are breakfast, teeth brushed , make bed, worksheet, dressed for the day, sunscreen. It should take at least 45 minutes for them to complete. |
Anonymous
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I’m just jealous you can be asleep while your kids are awake!
My kids get a set amount of TV per day (30 mins). They can save it up and do up to an hour a day, and we take it away in increments as a consequence for bad behavior. My kids, especially my 6 year old, become zombies with too much TV. Even on sick days I have to keep an eye on TV or he gets obsessed with wanting more TV. Some other kids are fine with more TV, but my kid does best with just a little. I like the complete these tasks and you can have x-amount of TV. For us, my 6 year old gets legos/free play once he’s dressed & ready for camp and has done one writing activity. |
Anonymous
Have you read about pediatric eye issues with screens? Ipads and computers are much worse than TVs (which are further away and the screen is different/not backlit). Kids now on screens all day at school are having a wide range of eye issues that hadn't ever been seen in this severity in kids. My sibling is a pediatric ophthalmologist and can't believe no one is talking about the eye issues she's seeing. Screens don't affect adult eyes the same way. We're exactly the opposite. We allow morning cartoons, but restrict ipad or computer use. |
Anonymous
| Something that's been helpful in reducing my kids' screentime was to get rid of Disney +, Netflix and Amazon prime. DH and I really never watched TV. |
Anonymous
That’s really weird. Lots of people watch TV and movies on big screen TVs. |
Anonymous
This is good advice. I would suggest replacing them with Hoopla and Kanopy which are free, and through the library. There’s still plenty of “trashy kid stuff” like Shimmer and Shine, but its generally better curated. Hoopla limits you to 3 downloads per account so there is some intentional decision making involved. |
Anonymous
wow you must have a strange friend group |
Anonymous
I would rather my kids watch a TV that we can all see and is collective for the siblings to participate in together than an iPad. You can also put away the TV remote or set up controls and timers on it. I always laugh at people who look down on "TV" but have the same thing in other formats. |
Anonymous
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We don’t do any screens in the morning. It makes them cranky. I’m 98% of the time up before my kids (and always when they were younger).
They eat breakfast and then find something to do. Sometimes that something is to whine that they are bored- but that’s how they learn to entertain themselves, so I cope. We also do swim team, so they all have a practice in the morning. After lunch, they sometimes have screen time, depends on the day. OP- decide on your rule and then stick to it no matter how annoyed or annoying they get. |
Anonymous
Agree. We dont have cable but we do have tvs. Multiple of them. |
Anonymous
Same and it’s also not 6 inches from their face, which cannot be good for their eyesight. Plus, screens super close to the face probably has a neurological impact that we just don’t know about yet. |