My kids burst through the front door, shedding backpacks and lunch bags, coats and boots. The house instantly becomes louder, as snippets of stories are shared, snacks are requested, and someone plunks mindlessly on the piano. “Is today a screen time day?” one of them asks. I shake my head “no” as I rummage through the fridge for snack options.
The youngest moans about screen time, declaring we should have it every day.
The older two begin their pleas:
“Can we have just ten minutes each?”
“Just one game?”
“But I want to show you something online.”
They negotiate, make offers they think I can’t refuse, give me their best puppy-dog eyes.
Then, when they realize my answer really is “no,” they furrow their brows and slink away. I wonder, as I watch them go, if we are doing anything right when it comes to screen time.
They are not deprived of screens — they get plenty of shows and games. We are not Luddites.
A few minutes later they — all three of them — are sprawled on the living room floor constructing complicated houses out of Legos and creating elaborate stories about who lives in these houses. I smile and think maybe we’re doing something right (today, at least).