Tube Time Strategy

We love a challenge — especially if it involves Mario Cart and hearing little giggles every time we crash and have to start over. But how much screen time is too much? Littles need an outlet, and video-games or movies on the tablet, for example, have proven to increase and improve hand-eye coordination and memory retention. So no, it’s not all bad, and you’re not a bad parent for giving your kids an awesome gift with which you can share the fun.

We’re not anti-technology by any means. We’re a Human Powered Tech company, after all. We LOVE watching/reenacting Frozen often being billed as Olaf when we’re desperate to play Elsa, and we’re definitely into a solid gaming session from time to time. BUT, it’s excess tube time that worries the caregivers in us.

It’s okay to ask ourselves if guidelines suggested by Very Well Family work for us, agree with the new-found truce (and quiet) in the home, or if less strict guidelines presented by the parent himself/herself allow for a more balanced approach to limiting the activity.

We asked our network, your Napp Network, what solutions they’ve discovered and this specific warning kept coming up:

“Don’t introduce screen time as a REWARD.”

HOLY COW! No wonder some littles feel like they’re being punished when screen-time is limited. Did we really just reward them with something we know we’ll resent? SO, why not set boundaries regardless of behavior? Healthy, friendly, boundaries. Can we introduce a schedule? “From X time to Y o’clock, it’s ONLY homework, no TV, no Tablet, and no Video Games. After homework, we eat together. ie: no TV, no Tablet, no Video Games. After we eat, it’s tube-time until it’s time to cool off, calm down, and hit the hay for a solid story and lights out.” Would this approach work? Let us know what you think.

Comment below. Send us an email. This subject alone has brought so many of us to the same conversation and has connected families from Baltimore to Tampa to Denver. Is there ONE rule? What’s yours?

Talk to you soon!
Claire and Katie, Co-Founders, Napp
info@nappnetwork.com