[marbles]

Originally Posted by squiddles

During holiday breaks or when we have sickness in the house things get totally relaxed and they get lots of screen-time, I used to be ashamed of it, but I've let that go, and I don't think it's really that horrible for them. The part that IS bad is when their attitudes start to deteriorate because of it. So I don't judge based on hours of screen-time, but how are their hearts/attitudes. And ironically (or not ) when they have lots of screen-time their attitudes get sucky LOL.

So, our normal routine is that Mon-Fri the only screen time they get is in the evening when I'm cooking dinner and they have to agree on a show. If they argue, TV off. On Friday night we make a big deal about movie night... then on Sat and Sun they get a free for all of screens. One TV with video games (like minecraft) a second TV with kid shows (like PBS) and two Amazon Fire tablets that they take turns with in 15 minute increments. We do lots of family activities on the weekends so this free for all isn't like ALLLL weekend hahaha...

But we live on 5 acres in the woods, and they get SO much time outdoors, and we homeschool so I feel like their time is very balanced. If they were in classrooms all day I think I would feel differently.
But for me, again, it comes down to "how is it affecting their heart/attitudes" vs. "what is that other 'perfect' mom doing with her kids"

Our weekends are similar, we are kind of a nerd family so movies and TV and video games are a lot of how we connect. I mean one daughter is named after a video game character and one is a movie character so...
I like this. I wanted to do TV at lunch on school days because I remember that fondly. But sometimes it seems like that signals to the kids that all responsibility is done and I hear whining and complaining about afternoon chores. Maybe that's something I need to let go of myself.