What's everyone doing for daily screen time? We've been saying 1 hour on school days but summer's here and I don't want to be a total tyrant about it. Don't want them glued to iPads all day but also like... sometimes I need 20 minutes of peace to make dinner. What's reasonable?
1 hour on school days is solid. Summer I'd probably bump it to 2-2.5 hours max but honestly depends on the kid. Mine would literally live on YouTube if I let him, so strict limits are necessary. The key is what they're doing the other hours - if they're outside or reading or building stuff, you're not a tyrant
We do outdoor time first rule - they gotta be outside for at least an hour before any screens on weekends. Makes a huge difference in their mood and they don't even ask for devices as much after that
Honestly the 1 hour thing is already pretty restrictive compared to most families I know. Don't feel bad going up in summer. Just maybe avoid the "screen all day while you work" trap - that's the real problem zone IMO
lol "total tyrant" - dude you're already thinking about this which means you're not being a tyrant. Some parents just let it rip all summer. I'd say 2-3 hours max on no-school days is reasonable, but structured stuff like Khan Academy hits different than YouTube shorts
lol the '1 hour on school days' thing never survived summer for us. Kids get bored, you get exhausted, screens become the path of least resistance. I found the 2-hour sweet spot where everyone's sane but they're not zombies
1 hour on school days is solid. Summer I'd maybe bump to 1.5-2 hours? The key thing we do is make sure it's not first thing in the morning or right before bed. Our kids got into the habit of wanting screens immediately after breakfast and it was a nightmare to break.
The outdoor time first rule is genius actually. Stealing this from you because our kids are becoming couch potatoes
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The trick is being less "tyrant about limits" and more "tyrannical about what replaces screens." If you say no iPad but then they're bored and whiny, that sucks. But if "no iPad today" means "we're doing the thing at the park," they forget about it
Honestly your post cuts off but I'm gonna guess you were about to say you don't want them bored out of their minds? That's the real tension. Summer screen time is harder because the structure's gone. I've been letting mine have more time but only stuff that's actually interesting - not zombie scrolling