3 ms·

yes - my son has a healthy amount of activities outside of his half-day at Montesorri. Could i spend more time with him? i sure wish i could have half-days too

yes - my son has a healthy amount of activities outside of his half-day at Montesorri. Could i spend more time with him? i sure wish i could have half-days too but reality is i get home and have just ~1hr to make dinner, bath and play with him. next week i will experiment with a 50% reduction of screen time (currently @30min/day) and substitute it with a plethora of strategy games and legos. hopefully this will do the trick. ive twlked to a ton of friends with kids and they all deeply wrestle with this. i honestly feel this will be our generation's greatest challenge. thanks guys for your support.

mcgrath_sh 9y ago
Wait. Your son is currently only in front of a screen for 30 minutes a day? Tha is pretty good, IMO. Heck, when I was 5 I was watching more TV than that.
mingabunga 9y ago
30 mins a day, that's nothing. Most little kids watch more tv than that daily - parent babysitter. Doesn't sound like you've got much to worry about. Have 4 kids, all watched hours of tv like there was nothing else in the world, and all turned out well so far. Just make sure there's some balance.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
feistypharit 9y ago
Ya, 30 minutes is not a lot. I have two kids, ages 3 and 5, and they get about an hour a day. They each get to pick a show that we all watch as a family. Don't forget there's a social aspect to it too. If you cut then of completely, when their v friends start talking about paw patrol or strawberry shortcake, they'll be left out. Same thing with the latest app or whatnot. Sure, they'll never know them all, but knowing none will make it harder for them to relate too.
unimpressive 9y ago
When I was a kid the psychiatrist prescribed me Ritalin and on an average 22-hour day I probably spent it watching cartoons for hours on end, playing Neopets ferociously, xbox, along with some time outside with the other kids riding my scooter and shouting conversation over the backyard fence with the older kids on the other side. This was probably tolerated in part because I was a pretty darn misbehaved child sometimes and watching TV wasn't as hard to deal with as explaining to me that no you can't tape a kitchen knife to your toy assault rifle as a bayonet.[0] I like to think I turned out fine, so freaking out over 30 minutes a day seems a bit hysterical. That in mind here's my advice to get him away from the TV: - Try taking him to the park. A lot of when I got out and really exerted myself as a kid was when I went to the park. It lets you interact with other kids, climb on stuff, go running around, and play pretend games that are good for the imagination. - Get toys that encourage him to get up and play pretend. I was always a huge fan of toy guns, action figures, stuff with interesting mechanics (if you're on HN I'm sure you have the requisite taste to find such things). My rooms floor was always strewn with action figures and the like. A lot of the time I'd pit them against each other, sometimes in epic battle royales that may as well have been the Ultimate Showdown Of Ultimate Destiny. [1] Important tip: Kids are generally not snobby, if it were me instead of buying expensive new toys I'd go down to value village and just pull twenty dollars of grab bags with interesting looking stuff off the wall, with the occasional new toy for flavor. When you're that age playtime is half imagination for everything anyway, and you won't get mad when he breaks them. Even when I'd play video games I'd make up my own story for what was happening with narration of the villain growing more despondent as I got closer to the stage end. Do be mindful of the choking risk though! - Get him some real friends, especially neighbors kids. A lot of what would get me to go outside, was seeing someone else outside in the cul-de-sac and wanting to be with them. Even in those famous studies with rats and the cocaine water they found that when you introduced social opportunities and other recreation the cocaine water became much less compelling. Overall though, your son is probably fine. As one comment in this thread suggested perhaps you could set a good example and pack up the TV yourself. After all are you really satisfied with the time you spend watching? [0]: It needed a bayonet! Cmon I was like 9. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WgT9gy4zQA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WgT9gy4zQA
- artur_makly 9y ago

mcgrath_sh 9y ago

Wait. Your son is currently only in front of a screen for 30 minutes a day? Tha is pretty good, IMO. Heck, when I was 5 I was watching more TV than that.

mingabunga 9y ago

30 mins a day, that's nothing. Most little kids watch more tv than that daily - parent babysitter. Doesn't sound like you've got much to worry about. Have 4 kids, all watched hours of tv like there was nothing else in the world, and all turned out well so far. Just make sure there's some balance.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

feistypharit 9y ago

Ya, 30 minutes is not a lot. I have two kids, ages 3 and 5, and they get about an hour a day. They each get to pick a show that we all watch as a family. Don't forget there's a social aspect to it too. If you cut then of completely, when their v friends start talking about paw patrol or strawberry shortcake, they'll be left out. Same thing with the latest app or whatnot. Sure, they'll never know them all, but knowing none will make it harder for them to relate too.

unimpressive 9y ago

When I was a kid the psychiatrist prescribed me Ritalin and on an average 22-hour day I probably spent it watching cartoons for hours on end, playing Neopets ferociously, xbox, along with some time outside with the other kids riding my scooter and shouting conversation over the backyard fence with the older kids on the other side. This was probably tolerated in part because I was a pretty darn misbehaved child sometimes and watching TV wasn't as hard to deal with as explaining to me that no you can't tape a kitchen knife to your toy assault rifle as a bayonet.[0] I like to think I turned out fine, so freaking out over 30 minutes a day seems a bit hysterical. That in mind here's my advice to get him away from the TV: - Try taking him to the park. A lot of when I got out and really exerted myself as a kid was when I went to the park. It lets you interact with other kids, climb on stuff, go running around, and play pretend games that are good for the imagination. - Get toys that encourage him to get up and play pretend. I was always a huge fan of toy guns, action figures, stuff with interesting mechanics (if you're on HN I'm sure you have the requisite taste to find such things). My rooms floor was always strewn with action figures and the like. A lot of the time I'd pit them against each other, sometimes in epic battle royales that may as well have been the Ultimate Showdown Of Ultimate Destiny. [1] Important tip: Kids are generally not snobby, if it were me instead of buying expensive new toys I'd go down to value village and just pull twenty dollars of grab bags with interesting looking stuff off the wall, with the occasional new toy for flavor. When you're that age playtime is half imagination for everything anyway, and you won't get mad when he breaks them. Even when I'd play video games I'd make up my own story for what was happening with narration of the villain growing more despondent as I got closer to the stage end. Do be mindful of the choking risk though! - Get him some real friends, especially neighbors kids. A lot of what would get me to go outside, was seeing someone else outside in the cul-de-sac and wanting to be with them. Even in those famous studies with rats and the cocaine water they found that when you introduced social opportunities and other recreation the cocaine water became much less compelling. Overall though, your son is probably fine. As one comment in this thread suggested perhaps you could set a good example and pack up the TV yourself. After all are you really satisfied with the time you spend watching? [0]: It needed a bayonet! Cmon I was like 9. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WgT9gy4zQA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WgT9gy4zQA

artur_makly 9y ago