With the obesity rates of adults and children on the rise, screen time is a big issue that has come up recently. As a child, I don't remember ever having limits set on screen time, but I do remember equally enjoying running/biking around outside and playing our educational Texas Instruments video games. The PC got invented and internet wasn't really a big thing until, gosh, high school? And cell phones, well, didn't have one of those til college! Suffice it to say the world I was raised in and the one I'm raising Kenzo in are two different ball games!
Go anywhere these days and you'll see toddlers playing games on their mom's cell phone, kids playing video games or glued to the tube, teenagers texting til they get carpel tunnel (seriously, it's a thing!). If it has a screen with entertaining stuff moving about on it, the kids want to watch it! But is it healthy? I guess it can be, to some extent. But there is a time and a place for it. Using the TV as a babysitter, well, it's gotta be done from time to time, but can be a dangerous habit to fall into. Kenzo is only 3 months and already getting accidental screen time - when he's on the play mat and the TV is on, he'll crank his neck so that he can see the TV, even if it's on mute! If he's sitting on my lap and I'm trying to finish up an e-mail or check Facebook, he's looking at the screen intently. We skype my parents and sister both once a week, and he's pretty captivated with that already, too! Now he's too young to really understand about what he can and can't have or do, but that will develop soon and hubby and I have to sit down and figure out how to handle restricting screen time, sweets, etc etc. In an ideal world, I'd say no screen time for the 1st 2 years, and after that only 30 minutes a day of educational TV, like sesame street. But who am I kidding?? Internet, TV, movies - these are HUGE in my life, and to limit screen time for my kid also means limiting it for myself. Yikes. Things just got real...
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
About ME:I'm a NYC metro area mom blogger living in NJ with my Japanese husband & our 3 kids (twins plus 1), focusing on fun and honest product and travel reviews, saving moms time finding the best for their families! Find what you need in the menu bar or search section above! Categories
All
Archives
October 2024
|