If you prop up an iPhone in front of your toddler at cava, I’m judging the heck out of you.

[Anonymous]

Op, make cure you talk to your kid. They will need all the help they can get when they into my kid and his friends.
Those kids are all on screens. Can't tell you when they started though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. I’m with op. Maybe you don’t get a quiet lunch/shopping trip/stroller walk, but all that screen time at an early age is really bad for developing brains.

But what's great for kids is judgy losers that give their parents the stink eye

Sorry it hits a nerve. Nobody is perfect, I know I’m not either, but this is a very clear place where you can make a choice that can affect your child’s brain development, attention span, ability to self regulate emotions.

Girl I hate screens for kids. My kid's behavior vastly improved when we took away her tablet. You are preaching to the choir. But I don't think giving a random parent the stink eye for giving their kid a phone for 20 minutes is okay either, I think it's really rude and unhelpful behavior (and the parent doesn't notice but look, you're still stewing about it, which can't be healthy)

I’m not op, I don’t give anyone the stink eye and I’m not stewing about it. I just feel bad for the kid and for the future of our society.

Yeah you're stewing about it

[Anonymous]

I have 3 kids who have never once had a screen in a restaurant, but if it was “20 minutes tops” then it doesn’t sound like all that much screen time. Maybe the parents needed to talk about something important. Maybe they’ve been interacting with her all day and need a 20 minute break. You have no information beyond a snapshot in time.

[Anonymous]

Get some real problems!

[Anonymous]

I'm a child therapist and we are almost screen free. Last week we were on vacation and our almost three year old was just totally deregulated and a nightmare the whole time. I gave her Bluey on my phone at dinner so that I could have one meal that I could actually engage my older kids without focusing on my screaming toddler.

All that to say, you have no idea why someone is giving their kid a screen and what kind of day they're having. Give people some grace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a child therapist and we are almost screen free. Last week we were on vacation and our almost three year old was just totally deregulated and a nightmare the whole time. I gave her Bluey on my phone at dinner so that I could have one meal that I could actually engage my older kids without focusing on my screaming toddler.

All that to say, you have no idea why someone is giving their kid a screen and what kind of day they're having. Give people some grace.

+1
I truly DGAF if it bothered some rando that I gave my jetlagged toddler a phone during a fabulously not child friendly rehearsal dinner for a not child friendly wedding

[Anonymous]

I am so freaking grateful to have grown up when phones were attached to walls and the only screen was the giant console TV on which I watched Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.

One of my favorite preschool childhood memories is of my mother putting on the Peter and the Wolf classical record and me laying on the living room floor listening to that recording and picturing everything the narrator said in my mind’s eye. I had such a vivid imagination; I don’t think I would have with screens full of endless dopamine hits for my developing brain.

I feel sad for kids today, they are all primed to be addicts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a child therapist and we are almost screen free. Last week we were on vacation and our almost three year old was just totally deregulated and a nightmare the whole time. I gave her Bluey on my phone at dinner so that I could have one meal that I could actually engage my older kids without focusing on my screaming toddler.

All that to say, you have no idea why someone is giving their kid a screen and what kind of day they're having. Give people some grace.

+1
I truly DGAF if it bothered some rando that I gave my jetlagged toddler a phone during a fabulously not child friendly rehearsal dinner for a not child friendly wedding

Maybe instead of "god how sad is it that kids have phones now" it should be "wow how great is it we have a way to quiet a screaming two year old so we don't have to leave the setting".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so freaking grateful to have grown up when phones were attached to walls and the only screen was the giant console TV on which I watched Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.

One of my favorite preschool childhood memories is of my mother putting on the Peter and the Wolf classical record and me laying on the living room floor listening to that recording and picturing everything the narrator said in my mind’s eye. I had such a vivid imagination; I don’t think I would have with screens full of endless dopamine hits for my developing brain.

I feel sad for kids today, they are all primed to be addicts.

People are ignoring the fact that restaurants have and have always had tvs on the walls. Nice restaurants! Bars! Adults go to restaurants and watch tv every day. Yell about that if screens bother you so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so freaking grateful to have grown up when phones were attached to walls and the only screen was the giant console TV on which I watched Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.

One of my favorite preschool childhood memories is of my mother putting on the Peter and the Wolf classical record and me laying on the living room floor listening to that recording and picturing everything the narrator said in my mind’s eye. I had such a vivid imagination; I don’t think I would have with screens full of endless dopamine hits for my developing brain.

I feel sad for kids today, they are all primed to be addicts.

Many parents have discovered audiobooks. They are fabulous. My child is obsessed. Unfortunately it's a losing battle because once they start school there is no escaping screens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a child therapist and we are almost screen free. Last week we were on vacation and our almost three year old was just totally deregulated and a nightmare the whole time. I gave her Bluey on my phone at dinner so that I could have one meal that I could actually engage my older kids without focusing on my screaming toddler.

All that to say, you have no idea why someone is giving their kid a screen and what kind of day they're having. Give people some grace.

+1
I truly DGAF if it bothered some rando that I gave my jetlagged toddler a phone during a fabulously not child friendly rehearsal dinner for a not child friendly wedding

Maybe instead of "god how sad is it that kids have phones now" it should be "wow how great is it we have a way to quiet a screaming two year old so we don't have to leave the setting".

Exactly and not disturb others.

[Anonymous]

Oh wow, that's really sad!! How about parents include their children in their conversations? We've always done this. We took our kids to a winery recently and while all the other children were on devices, we were playing card games as a family while still enjoying great drinks and beautiful views.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am well aware of the exceptions:

We only had a few minutes to talk and needed out toddler to be quiet.
Our toddler has XYZ diagnosis.
And on and on.

But the research is there and the pendulum is swinging the other way. There are few legitimate reasons to prop up a screen in front of your 13 month old at cava while you lunch with your partner. It’s 20 minutes tops.

Knock it off, people.

For all you know the woman is with that child all day long and this is her chance to have a break and enjoy an adult conversation. The screen is then a short-lived treat for the child? 20 minutes. Not only are you ridiculously judgmental but you have a screw loose to post this kind of screed.

Is this a Gen Z parenting thing? It is literally your job as the child's parent to keep an eye on them all day long, even while having an adult conversation. Somehow our parents managed this and their parents this, but a 30 year old can't. GROW UP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher and I agree. It’s not so much the screen time. It’s the fact that parents are spending so much less time talking and interacting with their kids. Even in the checked-out parent years in the 1980s, kids were talking and interacting with other kids. Some of the kids in this generation seem to just be learning to be human at age 5 when they come to school.

do your part and get screens out of your classroom

Teacher here and we have zero control over this. My kindergartens were on screens for math and literacy and I was told it was more important than teacher instruction.

These little kids come to school and have no idea what to do with a person talking to them. They are used to a screen and it’s BAD.

If you really thought it was so bad you would be organizing to get screens out of your classroom. Many of our kids get plenty of time with real interaction.

You can't bash parents for using screens and turn around and show YouTube videos instead of reading books to kids and have them play video games when you need a break.

Oh shut it. This is your fault, not teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am well aware of the exceptions:

We only had a few minutes to talk and needed out toddler to be quiet.
Our toddler has XYZ diagnosis.
And on and on.

But the research is there and the pendulum is swinging the other way. There are few legitimate reasons to prop up a screen in front of your 13 month old at cava while you lunch with your partner. It’s 20 minutes tops.

Knock it off, people.

Hope you stepped up and took care of the toddler since you had so much extra time on your hands to judge.

I've had three toddlers, none of them were ever on my phone. There is something wrong with people like you who don't want to care for their children.