For years I thought about going screen free.
But to be honest, I was scared to do it. Would it mean I *never* got a moment to myself again
{and such moments were few and far between already!}
The start of this year presented a new opportunity though. Ruby was about to start Waldorf preschool and Max was going into Grade 2.
Jason and I talked about how the year was going to go, and I just threw it out there
What if we go screen free? Or at least television free?
And without any need to really discuss why we would do this, Jason said
Let’s do it.
And so we did.
This means that during the week there are no children’s television shows. And there are no movies for the children.
We still watch a family movie on Saturday night ~ movie night! Because this is part of our family time.
We are making memories watching these fun movies together, while we eat popcorn and homemade pizza! {maybe in the other order *wink*}
And Jason and I still watch a show or two after the kids are in bed.
An exception I have found that works for us is when the children are sick.
When they are sick we do allow screen time. I feel like it is almost the only way I can get them to rest! To be still.
And we are comfortable with this compromise {and we know it won’t be right for all families}
So how did the children respond to the change?
I was A-M-A-Z-E-D. They simply accepted it.
I think this shows the value of a clear boundary {mind you, this doesn’t always work!}
Once we told them what our new screen rules were, that was it, that was what we do.
Now I wish we’d tried this years ago.
It makes for a much more peaceful home. The children transition from school to home by having a snack, drawing, looking at books. And playing.
Funny isn’t it.
It wasn’t that long ago that I shared our approach to letting the children watch television.
And now, here we are *grin*
You can read what Steiner said about television here. And about the impact of television on child development here.
??? You can see more snippets of our days on Facebook and Instagram ???
Happy days, Kelly
5 Comments
I tip my hat to you, Kelly!! So good to reduce where you can. We are very low media… well, the only media is tv (no ipads or computers/games etc) but the occasional afternoon show does save my sanity I must admit 😉
I love your version of a low media home, it certainly doesn’t have to be all or nothing. We are just beginning family movie nights at our house and thoroughly enjoy the time we spend together while doing so.
Your low media home sounds lovely!
Even though we now have older kids who each have their own lap top for school so we are in no way ‘low media’, I am grateful that our kids are naturally seem drawn to things other than screens and get home from school longing to play with pets or go outside or draw…
We haven´t had a tv for 10 years. We have a laptop. That is used for some screen time, mostly on the weekends. We use netflix. The kids play after school and kindergarten, listen to music. we do movie nights on the weekend and on sunday we watch the Mouse, a kids programm that has been going on for over 40 years. I´ts a family tradition.
Sounds like you’ve found a nice balance that suits your family x