The school holiday fear and going cold turkey on screen time
Sophie Lombardi
I have fleeting Enid Blyton daydreams about the school holidays where my children go on wholesome adventures to catch butterflies with picnics consisting of homemade bread, jam and lemonade all wrapped up in a checkered tea-cloth. But then reality kicks in and I actually feel a bit sick. I meet lots of enthusiastic Mums in the playground who relish the school holidays' lack of timetable and ample pj time. I am most definitely not one of these Mums, what is the secret to their sparkiness?
I don't have a strategy other than booking the odd holiday programme. With Mr. P away for most of the hols (inciting giant green envy) I know that I will need a break to get on with Poppy and Honesty stuff. However I have my reservations about plugging the kids into devices as I am not sure the knock on effect is worth it.
Just talking about screen time opens up a can of worms almost as wriggly as breast feeding or childbirth. I am certainly not going to judge anyone using screens to entertain, educate, or buy themselves some time to go to the loo alone or call the emergency plumber. However we've got rid of the screens for a while and the kids have been much nicer. They seem less reactive and more able to engage. Perhaps because they are not thinking about their next move on Clash of Twats or hilarious emoji to send to their pals? Also their testosterone levels appear to have slumped as they are no longer busy wiping each other out on computer games. They are having to do 'other things' and entertain themselves, even if this involves maiming each other with a tennis racket, surely it's better than watching a bored teen fidget spinning on You Tube? Maybe this is just my own self fulfilled prophecy but family life certainly seems a lot more harmonious without the plug ins.
We've been Device Cold Turkey for x 4 weeks and so far so good. Obviously I will probably break after Week 1, when I have to locate a Poppy and Honesty order that has gone awol. However, it has definitely been an eye opener and something you may want to consider for a while to change things up.
May the force, all the wine and deep breathing be with you for the next 6 weeks. If you are a sparky school holiday Mum, can you let me in on the secret, pleaaaaase?
Sophie xxxx
