Karen–oh, the books. You have no idea. Actually, you will have an idea tomorrow when you read that post. Your comment inspired another photo and a few thoughts on our books….tune in tomorrow.
Wendy–Good for you! We really do limit the kids. This photo was such a good joke–I guess our boy is making up for the time we *don’t* let him watch TV or use his little Gameboy and decided to double up that afternoon! In fact, the TV in the photo is really just a monitor. We didn’t do it on purpose–it was a cable television installation oversight on our part. We can’t watch TV on this TV. Only videos. And the only other TV is in the basement, and my little boy is afraid to go down there by himself. Below the TV in the storage cabinet are board games. Lots of them. I spent all morning playing Mancala and Clue with him today. And reading. Lots of reading, of course. I do have older kids, too, ages 9, 11 and 13. So far they still respect the technology limits….so far….
We limit too! No electronics (tv, video, computer, gameboy) during the week at all…unless it’s for schoolwork. It’s getting harder, my guys are 8, 9, 11.
I really hope we can continue to limit technology in our home also…not to hard with a 4 and 2 yr old…who love books and playing outside. Games…I will have to look into getting some more games to play with them.
ncxraymom: You’re so good to get them loving books and the outdoors….at our house technology has crept and made its mark, as you can see in the photo. In fact, the older girls bought their Gameboys and Nintendo DS’s with their own money (except one who got it for her birthday). I told them, “Even though you bought these yourselves, I reserve the right to insist that you turn them off at any time. That’s the only way I’m going to allow you to buy them. I do not want these machines to take over.” They agreed to it, and for now they honor my requests without too much complaining.
It’s better to just keep it away as long as possible, like you’re doing! You sound like you’ve got some good stuff going in your house.
My daughter was very obsessed with smartphones. I’ve tried to give alternatives such as physical toys but she have been ignored. Is there any solution?
You can see from this photo that I was struggling, too. However, I did limit it.
I don’t know how old your child is, but when they were really young, they had no phones and I limited their computer game and TV time with a timer–they could watch a screen after reading a book or finishing chores or homework or whatever, and even then they only got a couple of hours. They weren’t happy about it, but that’s the way it was. I was the parent and so I was in charge. Now that they are much older, you know what stories they tell? Stories about being bored, dressing up, and using their imaginations. One time they dressed up as spies and ran through the neighborhood and someone called the cops. When the kids showed up back at our house to find a police car parked out front, they slowly walked up to the police officer who was chatting with our neighbor. The neighbor was sucking on a popsicle assuring the neighbor they were just kids being kids. Everyone just laughed (except the lady who phoned in my kids, but she loosened up when she saw their silly spy outfits) and we locked in a fun memory.
On the other hand, just so you know, they enjoyed watching shows and playing various games. So they had plenty of screen time and today, one of my daughters is in a computer science program. So it’s not all bad to enjoy screen time. I just didn’t want them to stare at a screen all day. They got a flip phone when they got their driving permit here in the States. And they didn’t get a smart phone until they were 18 and they could pay for it themselves.
The irony of all of this, of course, is that I stare at screens almost all day as a writer!!
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Hey, it looks like you’ve got plenty of books to make up for the lack of technology. LOL!
Karen–oh, the books. You have no idea. Actually, you will have an idea tomorrow when you read that post. Your comment inspired another photo and a few thoughts on our books….tune in tomorrow.
Wendy–Good for you! We really do limit the kids. This photo was such a good joke–I guess our boy is making up for the time we *don’t* let him watch TV or use his little Gameboy and decided to double up that afternoon! In fact, the TV in the photo is really just a monitor. We didn’t do it on purpose–it was a cable television installation oversight on our part. We can’t watch TV on this TV. Only videos. And the only other TV is in the basement, and my little boy is afraid to go down there by himself. Below the TV in the storage cabinet are board games. Lots of them. I spent all morning playing Mancala and Clue with him today. And reading. Lots of reading, of course. I do have older kids, too, ages 9, 11 and 13. So far they still respect the technology limits….so far….
We limit too! No electronics (tv, video, computer, gameboy) during the week at all…unless it’s for schoolwork. It’s getting harder, my guys are 8, 9, 11.
I really hope we can continue to limit technology in our home also…not to hard with a 4 and 2 yr old…who love books and playing outside. Games…I will have to look into getting some more games to play with them.
ncxraymom: You’re so good to get them loving books and the outdoors….at our house technology has crept and made its mark, as you can see in the photo. In fact, the older girls bought their Gameboys and Nintendo DS’s with their own money (except one who got it for her birthday). I told them, “Even though you bought these yourselves, I reserve the right to insist that you turn them off at any time. That’s the only way I’m going to allow you to buy them. I do not want these machines to take over.” They agreed to it, and for now they honor my requests without too much complaining.
It’s better to just keep it away as long as possible, like you’re doing! You sound like you’ve got some good stuff going in your house.
My daughter was very obsessed with smartphones. I’ve tried to give alternatives such as physical toys but she have been ignored. Is there any solution?
You can see from this photo that I was struggling, too. However, I did limit it.
I don’t know how old your child is, but when they were really young, they had no phones and I limited their computer game and TV time with a timer–they could watch a screen after reading a book or finishing chores or homework or whatever, and even then they only got a couple of hours. They weren’t happy about it, but that’s the way it was. I was the parent and so I was in charge. Now that they are much older, you know what stories they tell? Stories about being bored, dressing up, and using their imaginations. One time they dressed up as spies and ran through the neighborhood and someone called the cops. When the kids showed up back at our house to find a police car parked out front, they slowly walked up to the police officer who was chatting with our neighbor. The neighbor was sucking on a popsicle assuring the neighbor they were just kids being kids. Everyone just laughed (except the lady who phoned in my kids, but she loosened up when she saw their silly spy outfits) and we locked in a fun memory.
On the other hand, just so you know, they enjoyed watching shows and playing various games. So they had plenty of screen time and today, one of my daughters is in a computer science program. So it’s not all bad to enjoy screen time. I just didn’t want them to stare at a screen all day. They got a flip phone when they got their driving permit here in the States. And they didn’t get a smart phone until they were 18 and they could pay for it themselves.
The irony of all of this, of course, is that I stare at screens almost all day as a writer!!