My 4yo has been glued to YouTube Kids for like 2 hours while I meal prep dinner. I know I shouldn't feel this guilty but part of me is like... the kid is safe, he's learning stuff, I'm being productive. But then I see all these articles about screen time destroying their brains and I start spiraling. Anyone else dealing with this guilt or am I just a bad dad?
Two hours of YouTube Kids while you're handling dinner prep is not messing up, that's just being a parent who needs to eat. You're doing fine.
Don't be so hard on yourself. I've got three kids and sometimes screen time is what gets me through meal prep without losing my mind. It's not ideal every day but it's not a failure either.
This is real life. Parents who judge you probably have someone else cooking dinner. YouTube Kids for 2 hours while you handle meals is not a tragedy. You're doing what you gotta do.
Don't feel too guilty. Sometimes you gotta prep dinner without a tiny voice asking for the hundredth snack. Two hours straight is probably more than ideal but you're still a good dad for getting food on the table.
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I'd maybe try to find a balance where it's not your go-to every night but also not something you stress about occasionally. 4 year olds need to decompress anyway and if that means you get dinner done, that's okay.
The guilt is the hardest part honestly. You're not messing anything up. You're a parent trying to get dinner on the table and keep a 4yo occupied. That's just called surviving the afternoon.