Could you please keep your kids off the screens when family is visiting?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I hear you OP. I've only seen the top of my nephew's head for years. The first thing he said when he arrived was "what's the wifi password?" He's 9. It's annoying.

I'm surprised by everyone saying it's ok. The kid is 7. There should be a hundred better things to do at that age.

This is exactly my nephew. It’s sad. He is an only child, and my kids are his only cousins, but all he does is play video games from sun up to sundown.

9 is a bit old to be that rude, but... it’s also at the age where it can be hard to kids to feel comfortable playing with other kids they rarely see. Some kids and adults use phones to avoid friction with others.

[Anonymous]

Some of these response are nuts. My kids frequently play with other kids who are a year or two older or younger. Yes, a 5 and 7 year old can find something to do together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are your kids similar ages?

+1. My 11 and 13 yos will indulge their 6 and 7 yo cousins for a little while, but it gets boring for them fast.

Your kids must be super boring. My kids would love to play with little cousins if they had them. They adore playing with their friends’ little siblings. They’ll braid hair, teach them things, play games with them, do hide & go seek, ride scooters/bikes/skateboards together, on and on. Possibilities are endless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are your kids similar ages?

+1. My 11 and 13 yos will indulge their 6 and 7 yo cousins for a little while, but it gets boring for them fast.

Your kids must be super boring. My kids would love to play with little cousins if they had them. They adore playing with their friends’ little siblings. They’ll braid hair, teach them things, play games with them, do hide & go seek, ride scooters/bikes/skateboards together, on and on. Possibilities are endless.

Would you like to spend a whole day with a 20 year old? A couple of hours maybe but a whole day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are your kids similar ages?

+1. My 11 and 13 yos will indulge their 6 and 7 yo cousins for a little while, but it gets boring for them fast.

Your kids must be super boring. My kids would love to play with little cousins if they had them. They adore playing with their friends’ little siblings. They’ll braid hair, teach them things, play games with them, do hide & go seek, ride scooters/bikes/skateboards together, on and on. Possibilities are endless.

Would you like to spend a whole day with a 20 year old? A couple of hours maybe but a whole day?

I just traveled Europe with my 20 yo step daughter- it was awesome!

[Anonymous]

meh. We just had a family get together, with people we don’t see very often, and my kids (a little older than yours) find their cousins very off-putting. The same age cousin one-upped my kids the whole time and affected a very superior attitude, the other one didn’t talk to anyone the entire time, completely non-verbal, but my kids didn’t mind the other one.

I agree it’s rude to ignore guests, but cousins don’t have to get along.

[Anonymous]

Screens ARE addicting. And parents are very lazy about this. They also get very lazy about allowing “I don’t like my cousin (as much as my new screen game). It’s very disappointing when you are hoping the cousins will be friends.
There’s a lot of projection on this thread. Sorry OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Screens ARE addicting. And parents are very lazy about this. They also get very lazy about allowing “I don’t like my cousin (as much as my new screen game). It’s very disappointing when you are hoping the cousins will be friends.
There’s a lot of projection on this thread. Sorry OP.

Honestly, I would rather my kid watch a screen than interact with their cousins (I’m the poster whose same age cousins are super snobby and/or non-verbal). And we are a low screen household, by rule. Some cousins just SUCK!

[Anonymous]

You are so conflict-avoidant that you are here complaining about family instead of addressing it directly and you are complaining about OTHER PEOPLES’ avoidant behavior?

Brilliant.

[Anonymous]

No kidding, if you invite people over, make an attempt to interact, which means turn off the electronics.
I think that's OP's point, make an attempt. We don't know whether the kids would have gelled, if they never tried playing together - and this could include video games - interacting, not one glued to thier screen. Teach your kids to be an engaging host, barring any special circumstances, not that much to ask.

[Anonymous]

The adults were the screen obsessed assholes at my Xmas. SIL’s bf has his out 23 hours a day, including at dinner. I can’t even imagine. Oh and Xmas morning while we were opening gifts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it's a meal or kind of a daylong event? Sure. We'll all be fully present and spending time together.

If you park it in my home for days on end and expect us to cook, clean, and activity-plan for you? Yeah, nope. At some point, we want to be home and enjoying our break. And yeah, that means a bit more screen time and doing whatever we want. You're welcome to fall in with us if you like. But if you expect museums and hours of chatting, make your visit shorter, or stay in a hotel. We want to veg out with our holiday. We do plenty of activities and museums and family talks throughout the year. There are very few days we can just hang out and play with new toys and watch shows and have screen time. We're vegging out, thanks.

Aren’t you a peach

It's Christmas break and we are taking this time to do what we seriously never get to do: just hang out and veg. If you want to be more formal or adventurous, go do it on your own time. If you want to fall in with us, I'll scoot over. If we feel super adventurous, you can come to Target and drive around looking Christmas lights with us later. We are chilling.

dont invite us next time

[Anonymous]

Some truly pathetic (and defensive) parents on this thread. No worries, your kids are the ones who will be socially hampered all their lives because they don’t know how to interact without screens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it's a meal or kind of a daylong event? Sure. We'll all be fully present and spending time together.

If you park it in my home for days on end and expect us to cook, clean, and activity-plan for you? Yeah, nope. At some point, we want to be home and enjoying our break. And yeah, that means a bit more screen time and doing whatever we want. You're welcome to fall in with us if you like. But if you expect museums and hours of chatting, make your visit shorter, or stay in a hotel. We want to veg out with our holiday. We do plenty of activities and museums and family talks throughout the year. There are very few days we can just hang out and play with new toys and watch shows and have screen time. We're vegging out, thanks.

Aren’t you a peach

It's Christmas break and we are taking this time to do what we seriously never get to do: just hang out and veg. If you want to be more formal or adventurous, go do it on your own time. If you want to fall in with us, I'll scoot over. If we feel super adventurous, you can come to Target and drive around looking Christmas lights with us later. We are chilling.

dont invite us next time

Spoiler alert: I didn't invite you. You like to come to DC with free lodging and mostly free food so you can esacpe St. Clairsville, Ohio for a few days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it's a meal or kind of a daylong event? Sure. We'll all be fully present and spending time together.

If you park it in my home for days on end and expect us to cook, clean, and activity-plan for you? Yeah, nope. At some point, we want to be home and enjoying our break. And yeah, that means a bit more screen time and doing whatever we want. You're welcome to fall in with us if you like. But if you expect museums and hours of chatting, make your visit shorter, or stay in a hotel. We want to veg out with our holiday. We do plenty of activities and museums and family talks throughout the year. There are very few days we can just hang out and play with new toys and watch shows and have screen time. We're vegging out, thanks.

Aren’t you a peach

It's Christmas break and we are taking this time to do what we seriously never get to do: just hang out and veg. If you want to be more formal or adventurous, go do it on your own time. If you want to fall in with us, I'll scoot over. If we feel super adventurous, you can come to Target and drive around looking Christmas lights with us later. We are chilling.

dont invite us next time

Spoiler alert: I didn't invite you. You like to come to DC with free lodging and mostly free food so you can esacpe St. Clairsville, Ohio for a few days.

Most people invite their house guests. You sound like a doormat.