Tag: technology free

Our Limited-Technology Summer Rules

It has been a week and a half without iPads, daily television, Netflix, and phone play for our kids. It’s been closer to a month of limited access of these items.

While I would love to be completely tech-free, all-day, everyday, that’s not fair to anyone – including me. Not to mention that I am a writer… I have my computer open whenever creativity strikes. AND I love to watch my Netflix shows in the evening. It’s how I shut my mom-brain off and zone out. We also enjoy family movies! What a hypocrite I would be if all technology was banished for the kids, but not the adults?

This is not the early 80’s here. I want my children to live their childhoods’ fully… including summers of boredom, but I’m also realistic. Mommy likes to unwind with a glass of wine and let the kids veg out…

We are absolutely loving our #TechFreeSummer so far, but after my last post, I’ve had a few questions about what exactly our tech rules are. I figured, the best way to answer would be to the masses.

Limited-Technology Rules For Our Home

  1. NO TECHOLOGY unless Mommy or Daddy says it’s ok.

That’s basically our main rule. ha.

Here are a few others that John and I are in charge of remembering, and the kids seem to forget:

  1. All iPads are kept together and away from kids, only to be retrieved by a parent.
  2. Television is permitted before iPads.
  3. iPads will be handed over if a parent asks for one.
  4. If fighting or bad attitudes arrive due to screen time, the devices will be removed and new rules discussed.

Our kids don’t have to check a list of crap before they earn their screen time. They have things we expect of them every day that are just part of life. I hate when I hear that kids earn screen time… I feel like it is part of the reason kids melt down when their time is over.

Here’s the deal. Today was the FIRST day we agreed to iPad usage in 10 days. It was early, a Saturday morning, and I just wanted to sleep a bit longer. Selfish, I know. I should have allowed the TV and not iPads; I’ve learned my lesson.   Our morning was Hell.

We needed to get ready for baseball games, and yet no child would cooperate, help, or listen at all. There was fighting between kids, aggravated adults, tears, and a late arrival to game #1. Both John and I just shook our heads and decided it was time to take our limited-technology a step further.

iPads somehow turn our kids into crazed-mean-unhelping creatures; normally it’s Netflix or a stupid app they are obsessed with – or just the screen itself. I think the time of day and exhaustion level of the child plays a huge role too. But I have realized that the hour of ‘sanity’ for me is not worth the 2-3 hours of cranky attitudes that comes with it. So we are cutting off iPads even more.

Educational apps can be played when a parent agrees, but it will be limited to 45 minutes, unless a parent extends time and happiness is still existing. No one uses an iPad until late afternoon or evening, and that will be a rarity (if at all) on weekdays.  (This is basically what the rules have been, but every once in a while we slack and shit hits the fan.)

If any of you have cut (or extremely limited) technology in your house, what advice do you have to share?  I’m up for learning from others on this!

One thing is for sure, our entire house is a more peaceful environment with technology being limited!

PS — Because of how our morning started, the children have been scrubbing the cars are afternoon, TOGETHER….   and they are HAPPY.

 

Rediscovering Summer: Bringing Back Childhood

If you have just joined in over here, you may not know that we are a over a week into our month of no (excess) spending. When our family began the challenge, it was due to needing to rebuild our savings accounts, but after a week, I’m learning that it’s really not that hard to think through things before throwing them into a cart. This may last longer than a month!

Cutting the spending also has an impact on our kids – their expectations of ‘owning things’ needed to be scaled back… drastically.

While we have tightened our budget-belts, I decided to go ahead and add a few more ‘fun challenges’ this summer. All of this is in hopes of bringing back a true childhood for our kids and instilling stronger values while enjoying the best season of the year.

Summer is about being barefoot in the grass, exploring the creeks, staying up until the stars come out, sleeping in and making over-sized bowls of cereal, becoming brown under the sun while diving into the pool, and road tripping with your family. It’s about exploring, adventuring, bonding with friends, and testing the boundaries of new found independence.

But yet, the youth of today are lost in social media and screens. Even the youngest of the generation aren’t out exploring the world; the toddlers know how to swipe a screen better than their parents. Who am I kidding? My own generation is lost as well! And we are no saints here. We own three iPads and have 2 TV’s in our home. While the iPads are used for homeschooling, they have turned into a crutch – for the kids and myself.

I’m done with crutches. This slower, mid-west lifestyle has opened my eyes to a wonderful opportunity… The opportunity to truly be present. So this is what we’ve done, we collected the iPads for good, unless a parent grants permission for an educational app to be used (exception will be the long road trip next month!). They will be used for homeschooling still – and facetiming family! – but that’s it, for now. The TV was never really an issue here, but the rule this summer is no TV until Mama says it’s ok.

I’m not doing any of this to punish myself or the kids. I enjoy evening TV, and I know the kids do too! It’s an easy way to relax and tune out…  but for 95% of the day, music is all we need!

Good-bye extreme technology.

We are a week into these changes and have spent more hours talking together than ever before. Meals are shared, clouds are made into alligators, bikes have been rode longer (and farther), and creations have been made from moments of boredom. We have found new playgrounds, filled inflatable pools, and lived slower – together.

I write all of this in hopes that you will join our #WildTribeAdventures this summer and cut off the majority of your technology…. in hopes to bring back childhood – and bring back summer!

My  kids will be at the library, pool, and children’s museum… They will spend hours being bored at home; they will play in the rain, ride bikes through our neighborhood, and create secrets together. I will worry as they wander around, but keep them within shouting distance. I will stop arguments from turning ugly, but let them solve their own problems. I will read my own books and encourage them to do the same. There will be hard days and easy ones, but the summer will be our best one yet.

Join us, using #WildChildSummer