How old are your boys?

Easiest is to just have a no TV in mornings rule and stick with it all year. Once they are in the habit of getting TV in the mornings, it is hard to just lessen it without going cold turkey. Their minds are not even thinking about what else they could do. Once TV option is gone, they will start using their imaginations.

For families who don't want so much TV time, consider just moving the TV into the basement or something. Partly because of the layout of our house and partly because of desire, we don't have a TV on the main floor. Perhaps this helps our kids avoid TV because there isn't a huge TV staring at them all the time tempting them. The TV is in the basement and we go down there to watch shows and movies together. I use a laptop for them to watch netflix on the main floor on weekend afternoons.

If you want to change the habit, you just institute the rule (no TV in the am) and then get them some not vel stuff to do instead to help with the transition. If you say no TV and then the only option is existing books and toys, they will struggle for breaking the habit.

Some toys my kids really enjoy playing with in the morning: marble run, legos, sticker books. Also, we don't have a yard but if we did, I'd get some outdoor toys for the summer and let them play out there in the morning. Outdoor time before it gets hot is nice, and the novelty of getting to play outside first thing could be a good distraction.

Anonymous wrote:My kids wake up early on non school days because they get to watch tv. They get up before me. I don’t let them watch tv on school mornings. They can only watch for about an hour after homework during the week. We try to plan something for weekends because all they want is to watch tv all day.

Summer is coming. On days that your kids are home or on weekends, what do they do when they wake up if they aren’t watching tv? How to I put new habits in that avoids the tv. I have no interests in the tv but my boys are so satisfied by it. They have tons of books. They love coloring and reading but the tv is a huge challenge.

Did you grow up in a broke house?

It’s summertime, just let it go.

How are they waking 2 hours before you?! They are waking that early to get tv. Tell them no tv and they will sleep in. How old are they? This is s main reason why I pay for good camps. A more productive summer.

Anonymous wrote:My kids wake an hour or two earlier than me in the mornings on tv days. They know what’s appropriate to watch but keep watching junk on YouTube. Pokémon card opening, Minecraft guy talking and playing and other junk. Need some advice to stop it and what to do instead.

Why you start it fool

It is summer, so I think it’s okay if tv is the main draw for the kids. Surprisingly, my kids watch very little tv. I get up early to log some work hours so that I can get off of work at 4 pm. While I’m working they are responsible for making their bed and brushing their teeth; making, eating and cleaning up breakfast; emptying and reloading the dishwasher and packing their lunches. I have a middle schooler and two elementary age kids. The kindergartner is less cooperative with the schedule and tends to dawdle but the 3rd grader and 6th grader stick to this schedule pretty well.

In the evenings, when the weather is nice we take a walk, if not at activities, sit on the porch and eat ice cream, go to the pool, and I notice the kids will play on the piano a lot. Not always practicing what they are supposed to but just making up their own songs.

Let them watch some tv, just keep it to a reasonable amount. Why not? It’s summer. No reason to stress about it.

They read, play with toys, come snuggle in the parents room, crafts/art projects, etc.

My kids read, play board games, create “stores” or with rainbow loom stuff or other art or have other similar “projects,” swim (including swim team), practice piano, do beast academy for 20-30 minutes, kick around a ball in the yard, have play dates, go on hikes or to nature centers, visit Smithsonians or other free museums.

We do family movie night or shows on occasion (1-2x a week during summer) and have had the World Cup on sometimes lately. They don’t really ask for tv when it’s not offered — but one of my two would happily watch for hours if he thought he would be allowed.

My kids wake an hour or two earlier than me in the mornings on tv days. They know what’s appropriate to watch but keep watching junk on YouTube. Pokémon card opening, Minecraft guy talking and playing and other junk. Need some advice to stop it and what to do instead.

Contrary to DCUM popular opinion, I don’t think TV is inherently problematic. I think screens are just another media format and should be judged by the content than by the format.

When my kids (now grown) were little, they basically had unlimited access to screens, but I did control the content. We tended to watch a lot of PBS Kids, classic TV, and movies. Sometimes we’d binge-watch a series, other times we’d binge a book series (we read aloud to each other for years, and not just at bedtime) - they were seen as equally appealing activities and the only question was which story we were in the mood for at any given time. We also engaged in a wide variety of other activities both at home and elsewhere.

So what do your kids do in the morning?

We have a rule of no TV in the morning.

My kids wake up early on non school days because they get to watch tv. They get up before me. I don’t let them watch tv on school mornings. They can only watch for about an hour after homework during the week. We try to plan something for weekends because all they want is to watch tv all day.

Summer is coming. On days that your kids are home or on weekends, what do they do when they wake up if they aren’t watching tv? How to I put new habits in that avoids the tv. I have no interests in the tv but my boys are so satisfied by it. They have tons of books. They love coloring and reading but the tv is a huge challenge.