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My child is rather obsessed with her tablet, as I know a lot of children are in this day and age. I seriously think she would watch it all day every day if I would let her, which makes me pretty sad. I don’t mind her watching it at all, particularly when she’s absolutely exhausted after school and just needs to chill for a bit before dinner. But it feels like at the moment she would choose to watch her tablet rather than go out somewhere or play with her toys and I really don’t like the extent of it.
The trouble is I quite often have to keep working for a bit once I have picked her up from school, and on the days when she is exhausted and asleep on her feet I can hardly force her to play with her toys. But I just feel like she’s watching it a bit too much at the moment and I really want to change that. It helps a lot that the days are getting longer now, and the weather is getting nicer, so it’s easier to get out more, and I need to put the effort in to rid her of this damn obsession.
If you read my blog much you will know that I am the least crafty mummy in the entire world. Crafting in any form scares the beejesus out of me, and if I see a needle and thread then I outta there. But in order to be a half decent mum I would like to research some easy crafts that she can do by herself for when I need to work after school. She is always super tired at the end of the school day, but if I could have a few easy crafts for her that don’t require much input from me, that I can have set up ready for her and she really enjoys, then hopefully she will enjoy spending some quality time doing those instead of reaching for the iPad. And I can feel like some semblance of a crafty mum and take lots of pictures to put on Instagram and pretend I’m a Pinterest mum.
I want us to get outside more after school. Now that the weather is getting nicer I’d like to drive straight to a park or by the river after school so we can get some fresh air and a bit of exercise for half an hour together. Even if she’s knackered, we can still have a little play.
It’s not a lot of effort for her or for me to take her onto the street outside our house and let her play on her bike or her new scooter for a bit to burn a bit of extra energy and keep her entertained. Ava was sent this scooter – the Mongoose Stance Stunt Scooter from Halfords and she absolutely loves going out to play on it, and whizzing down our street. We also have a river not far from us, with a lovely a wide flat path that runs alongside it – perfect for scooting – so I definitely want to head out there after school or at weekends more often.
The Mongoose Stance Stunt Scooter has a smooth ride, with a non-slip deck and rear brake for a safer and easier ride. It also has a strong frame, wheels, and triple clamp which means that it’s great for learning tricks and stunts on. It’s perfect for Ava at this age when she wants to try new things out, and although it is slightly too big for her at this stage she still manages to ride on it really well. It’s a brilliant scooter that zips along, and I may have kept stealing it off her and whizzing away – it’s so much fun. I love that it has a break to slow you down as well.
I know I need to pay more attention to how long she is actually on her tablet for. Sometimes, especially when I’m working, time can run away from me and she’s been watching something for a while without me even realising. Half an hour after school is okay with me, two hours is not, unless she’s poorly. I want to give a set amount of time that she is allowed to watch it for, and actually set a timer and enforce the limit properly. She’ll have a big fit at least for a while until she’s used it, but I know it’s important.
I’d like us to start having some completely free days where she doesn’t go on the iPad or tablet at all. It happens occasionally of course, when we’re out having fun, but not often enough I don’t think. I want to try and be on my phone a bit less when I’m around her too, so we can do it together (although I’m not going without my phone for a whole day!). I know there will be the odd meltdown but I just have to stick to it.
I really hope that these things with help to get her (and me) out of the habit of wanting to watch crappy YouTube videos all of the time. Like I said, I don’t mind her taking a bit of time out to watch something and relax for a bit, but she has become far too reliant on it recently, and wants it all of the time, which I’m not at all okay with.
Wish me luck!
Do you have any suggestions for ways to get kids off the tech more regularly? Do you think your kids watch too much? I’d love to hear them in the comments!
We were sent the Scooter from Halfords, but all words and opinions are my own. See my full disclosure policy here.
Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
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