22 Nov 2016

Accidental Electronic Device Detox

Just wanted to share a little win I realised lately. The boys no longer play with the iPad's. Not at home, not when we're out, but definitely at the grandparents. 

It all started about a month ago. Eli dropped an iPad on the ground by accident. He was sitting down and had one on his lap. He stood up to grab some food and it fell a measly three inches. The screen cracked, so did hubby. Eli understood clearly he was in trouble and from the countless "I told you ..." statements he heard from his father and I he knew we were both extremely cross. So from theat moment he hasn't asked for it and because he doesn't play with one, his younger brother doesn't want to play with one either. 

Since they no longer get access to one, they're playing with their room full of toys more. They'll say to me "I'm bored!". Which I respond with, "go find something to do then", and surprisingly they go off and play together more. This also means they're fighting more too.

Going out to eat as parents you rely on the iPad. For us definitely when the boys were younger, when they start to get restless we would pull out an electronic device and put YouTube on. Now they have no choice but to sit there and wait until everyone has finished their meals. I think they're eating more because they're not distracted. I think they're more engaged in their surroundings because they're not looking at a screen. 

I'm not sharing this to show that I'm a better parent, far from it. I guess I'm sharing a progress made with my imperfect parenting. It wasn't like we decided on an electronic device detox, it just happened due to a situation. 

Another interesting outcome from this is I've realised the boys do actually like to play a lot. They're always asking me to join them in some made up game using toys and our imagination, or get outside to play basketball or even just play a game of passing a balloon to each other. 

They're very conscious of when I'm on the phone. They'll tell me to get off or follow me around bugging me until I give in and get off.

They do get access to an iPad when they're at the grandparent's homes. They'll ask for it shortly after they walk in. The other week Kai wanted to sleep over at the grandparent's place, and Kai never wants to sleep over. He was telling me to go home while he was holding the iPad. 

I hope we continue this non-iPad environment for as long as we can. Eli starts school next year so I know we can't keep the electronic devices away forever. But I know we can restrict it if we need to .... and the world will still keep spinning.

Next, getting them to eat more veggies. 

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