Being a FTM, I find myself worrying about every single thing that H does. One thing that I struggle with everyday is his exposure to digital devices.
It is a growing trend for parents to expose their kids to digital devices. Personally, I think it's too young to start kids on digital devices as they get addicted to them. I see those kids who have their faces stuck to the Ipads or phones even during meal times and i worry for their eyesight.
To be honest, I totally understand the urge to let H watch videos, especially when I'm tired after work and he is creating a havoc in the house. I admit that sometimes I give in and just let him watch a little on TV (youtube videos) in my parent's house.
But, on better days, I try to read with him or to him, depending on how you look at it.
The key difference is that digital devices do not require parental involvement but reading and playing with H requires a lot of effort. Just getting him to be still and listen is a huge chore in itself and his attention span is very short; less than a minute usually.
Reflecting, I think that parents play a very important role in ensuring that kids do not get unnecessary additional exposure to digital devices. We are guilty of facing the screens all day long, whether is it for work or leisure. Do we want our kids to have such a life? I think not.
What we can work on is to spend quality time with our kids as much as we can but at the same time, if we as parents need to take a break, there is no need to stress. I heard many stories where many parents have unrealistic expectations at the start that kids should have 0% exposure to digital devices and then burnout happened and they decided that it is not doable. I feel it is okay to let them have a limited amount of screen time but it should be capped.
What are your thoughts about this?
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