Just Switch Off: How Limiting Screen Time is Actually Making Parenting Easier
Television…I’m not here to be a hypocrite, I am a confessed tv addict. I have burned through, wasted, sloth-like and sluggishly spent entire Saturdays sprawled across the couch watching back to back episodes of a trashy movie marathon! I have admittedly, more than a few times, used the TV as a respite, a lifeline and crutch in my parenting. My little ones can, and do, waste hours in front of their favourite program. It’s not something I’m proud of. I, like many mums, often pull on this resource for help, for distraction and for believing it will provide a little calm and a little ease to an already crazy and chaotic day!
At times, yes, I’ve found the television hugely effective. I’ve seen an episode of The Wiggles instantly neutralise my somewhat possessed toddler mid terrifying tantrum, brilliance coupled with a Hail Mary. No it’s not those moments of tactful hostage negotiation, its the times I know we are all guilty of where the magic of ABC kids tv clicks on and slowly but surely one new program blends into the other blurring the morning or afternoon away. In the beginning they’re glued, fixed and focussed, transcended to their favourite fantasy cartoon, blissful, happy and contented. Eventually though, the wriggles, the fidgets and the boredom shuffle sets in, niggling with their siblings, frazzled frustrations over normal trivial things, quickened tempers and annoyances. Disputes, destructive behaviours, distracted play…disaster!
Watching this all unfold, again and again, I made a change and a concerted choice to switch off and to limit my little ones viewing time. After the protests and the grumbles, sighs and stomping off, the independent, the creative, the imaginative and the self-directed play is given an opportunity to shine! We all, including me, became motivated, active, participating, engaged and present. Productive, not just in play but in everyday tasks and demands that sometimes can get lost in the busy and the hustle of the day. You are given a chance for learning, not structured but incidental, a chance for conversation, a chance for interaction, a chance for problem solving, a chance to be in the moment and a chance for fun. The day flowed, working in and around each other, getting through the monotonous and mundane while they happily adventured in a world of their own making.
I’m not going to paint a completely pretty picture. Of course there were still moments of challenge, conflict, tears and resolution. My point is that it was all easier. By removing what I thought was helping my day I actually found it to be the underlying source to all things difficult.
There will still be times when my children watch TV. This is not a vendetta to eliminate all screen time. I’m not super mum and there will always be moments when I need a break, I need a sit down and a cup of tea, it’s just not for all the time. By limiting, restricting and setting boundaries for their viewing I was actually gaining so much more! Be in the moment, give their journey a blank canvas so that they can create, they can learn and they can play without the distraction.
