Screen Time and Angie Drinks a Half Cup of Coffee

My kids spend too much time with their faces in screens.  I know that many parents feel the same way.  It's not just the guilt of recommended guidelines, it's also that Josh and I noticed that our children act like perfect little assholes when they've had their faces in a screen for too long.  After hours of numbifying screen time they're much more likely to argue with each other, slam doors, cry, yell at us.   And since we feel like our kids are more likely to abide by rules when they've had some say in creating them, we brought this screen time issue to a family meeting.

At the family meeting we compelled the children with science, like this article about how children who spent too much time in screens had trouble reading emotions in people.  By consensus we all decided that the kids would refrain from any home use of screens during their school week, which is Monday thru Thursday, but then would have free screen time reign on the weekends.  Josh and I were pleased with this, it afforded much more time in the evenings to get everything done for the next day.

Everything was great, until I noticed that my kids, kids who love to play outside in ditches, thrill at being up for hours in their treehouse, revel in the freedom of their bicycles, were spending ALL weekend with their faces stuck in a screen.  We had to revisit the issue.

Again at a family meeting we discussed the screen time, and how it was taking away from so many of the fun things they like to do.  This time through painstaking negotiations we came to a 6 hour limit on the weekend.  We didn't do a per day limit, because the kids felt there might be days when they'd like to spend the day stuck in a screen.  However they chose to spend their time (6 hours, we decided on 2 hours per weekend day, taking into account they always have 3 day weekends), when their time was up, it was up.  We kept the no screen time during the weekday rule, with one exception, 15 minutes per day, intended to motivate a child in school, but he is still limited to a total of 6 hours per week.

I was so happy to have this defined number and feel like we had some control, and consensus, and that I might actually see my children playing outside again, until I realized that I was going to have to find a way to track this time.  I was having a really hard time coming up with a plausible, workable idea.

Then on Tuesday, I was set to volunteer in the kids' classrooms, and I was feeling extremely drowsy.  I had given up coffee a year ago, (I don't need any help in the irritable, sweating, and jittery department), but I decided maybe I needed a little pick me up to deal with the torture of 24 seven year olds.  I drank one half cup of coffee out of the smallest mug we had in the house.  I completed my volunteer duties with a fervor and unluckily for the students with a slight irritable edge.  Then on the way home, I started getting bountiful, manic driven ideas for how to track this time.

We now have a system.  Each child is going to get a terra cotta flower pot to decorate to their liking. And I decided I would break their time into 15 minute increments.  They each get 24 coins in their flowered pot on Thursday evening, each child's coins are a separate color so they can't steal from each other (I found margi gras coins, green, gold and purple, which should have been on clearance, but I guess the dollar store doesn't roll like that).  When they want to watch tv, check email, play minecraft ect.  they give Josh or I the coin and set a timer for themselves.  When the coins are gone the time is gone.  If they have coins leftover (I don't anticipate this being a problem), good for them, but either way, next weekend they start fresh with 24 coins.

The best part about this plan is that they all agreed to it, they each have a part in it, and we find in our house that's the best way to get rules to stick.  Hopefully, this will stick, and my children who are growing up in the digital age, will live with a little more balance.