Scene 1:
The moment, dad / mom enter the home, loud sounds of various decibel levels are heard from all the rooms…
Living Room – Sponge Bob is happily blabbering away or Dora the forever-explorer is speaking in Spanish. The TV is on but who is watching it?!! No idea…Probably that’s background music that is a must-have for 2 little people (and helper)
Toy Room – Boy is watching iPad / Tab. Oh, they have choices thanks to their parents who bought multiple devices so that all are happy and can surf seamlessly! So if the mood is hyper-active, go for tablet because there are games installed in it – Riding monster trucks, making pizzas and serving them to customers and all kinds of professions they teach…So educational!
Girl’s Room – From Taylor Swift’s new song, Top 10 YouTubers and their latest videos to searching motivational quotes, googling about some weird topics and products that only pre-teens understand…Wow, rainbow activities are happening here.
After Dad / Mom enter after hard day’s work, Boy and Girl manage to greet them and chat for good 2.5-minutes. So nice of them to take out this time from their busy e-schedule for their parents!!! Hats off hats off.
Well, am sure those of you who are parents must have understood the highly-sarcastic tone of the above paragraph. Yes, correct, that’s the intention.
Screen time for kids is always a big “?” for me. How much is too much? I don’t know. In fact, sometimes, I get so lost in the enchanting world of FB, WhatsApp, Insta that I overcook the food or bang my head on the door while walking. And who introduced the iPad & Tab to kids? We – the parents – only right?
So yes, the ball comes right back in our court. Kids and me can go insane when it comes to e-world! Hubby is the only balancing factor who uses the glittery gadgets to the minimum. So when he realized that the screen time is becoming endless – “please please 5-mins more, 2 mins, 10 secs”, when he saw that kids are becoming agitated and irritated when the beloved gadgets are taken away from them, he pressed the ALARM button.
Enough is Enough – He declared!
Thanks to the technology and our Internet Provider, we managed to do this. We blocked Internet for most of the time of the day for iPad, Tab and Girl’s smartphone. Now the devices are there, charged fully but Sorry, you just cannot connect to Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi obliges these devices only 2-3 hours a day.
What happened after Dad’s step to block Internet? Read on.
Girl’s spontaneous reaction when we blocked Internet for the first time! So stinging-ly creative…Lol
Current Scene: from kids point of view
Frustration, frustration…What’s life without iPad and Tablets and Smart Phones? Worst is the fact that the gadgets are there but they are almost dead without the Wi-Fi.
Sad, Sad, Sad – Nothing to do after we come back from school. Seriously, parents are so cruel!!! They blocked Internet??!!! Total injustice.
Sigh, Cry, Sigh – Lets watch some TV.
Ha! Not that interesting.
No choice, really No choice – Okay, lets finish school homework
Okay done.
Let’s play together. We agree to disagree when it comes to the rules of the game, we will fight but let’s still play…
This snakes and ladders is such a fun. Of course, I win most of the times, Bro!
Oh, we have so many toys and lot of play options
So happy to play with this stamp maker again…
Wait, we have something called as playground downstairs –
Let’s visit that place. Not gone there for n number of days. Playground is so much fun. Met some old friends there.
Internet is back? Wi-Fi is on? Let’s test –
Yes, yes, go to Settings and check. Can we connect? Try harder. Oh, still cannot. Ok, I am going to surprise (or shock?) parents by changing some other settings. What is this “accessibility options” is all about, Invert colors, Assistive touch and all ? Aha, see we learnt something new. But why iPad now looks like this? OMG, did we do something stupid?!! Ok just off it and keep it away.
Games will work right even if no Wi-Fi? Yippie!!!
Yaaaas, some of them are at least working but new updates and all not available…That still needs Wi-Fi. Ayyo!!!
Hey we have storybooks
Come on, read some new books that we got from the library. They look fun.
6:30 PM – Internet is BACK. Yay…Life seems so cool now 🙂 🙂
Yes, for some time at least it will be on, so use it to the fullest.
So parents, do think about such blocking slots for Wi-Fi. This measure really works – at least to a certain extent. Kids start looking at the real world, do things that they did before they got gadgets and overall, look more like kids than gadget addicts. By the way, Hubby is thinking seriously to impose this blockage on my iPhone also…Oh no 🙁
We are trying. Please share with us what you do to limit screen time of kids.
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I might not be the norm but we don’t allow much screen time. He can watch maybe an episode and not allowed on our photos or laptops. I enjoy games and more active play for now at age 8.
I loved this! I have stopped using my phone in the morning and it has improved my productivity. But I think it will be easier if I block internet at my place!
This sounds so good, I usually do that for the tv as I have not yet bought any other devices for my kids. This ban does works great, and after sometime they start playing with the toys they had also with each other. I really liked the way you compiled this post, with the scenes and explaining the expressions.
My parents never stopped the internet but we have had many times without any wifi. True that you get more things done, or you try new things! or just spend more time with your family!
Oh I miss the old time, where internet was an expensive thing. We were have internet only at day 1 until day 25 every month, and we were have fun without it for 5-6 days! It was amazing!
This post made me really laugh, so funny! Internet free time is such a good idea, it sounds like you saw a completely different side to your children and I am sure they learned a few things too! 🙂
We had to do this at our home when things got out of hand for a while there. Now we have dedicated time that the wi-fi goes on and everyone knows about it so they don’t bug before or after. Got to do what works for the family!
When I noticed my kids were getting too attached to their Ipads, I decided to keep the Ipad away during the week. I only let them watch twice a week for 2 hours and long hours over the weekend. Since I started it, my son have been focusing on trying to read and writing as well. I think your hubby did the best thing!
Good idea. Actually if we block the internet, I would get more stuff done. Awesome post.
Haha I loved your post, I don’t have children but I can relate to this with my sister, niece and nephew. I think it was a brilliant idea to ditch the wifi for a while, it looks like they found loads to do, great to get out and get some fresh air, exercise and see old friends and you can’t beat a good board game!
I think we all need to have one tech free day a week… our lives are bombarded by all things tech and I think we get by so much better when we have one day at least a week that we step back and “breathe”
Your post made me split with laughter as I recalled my mother doing that each day and those frustrating looks on my face.
This is beautiful! More people (parents included) also need to disconnect more often. We do this with my step-kids a lot. Unplugging and getting back to basics, going for walks and hikes, playing board games, building lego. It’s amazing what we can learn about each other in this time.
I think I should do this for myself! I waste so much time scrolling through social media when I could be much more productive. It’s definitely something I need to work on, thanks for the inspiration!
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Good idea. Actually if we block the internet, it would be more inconvenient for US! – the parents Haha! But ya, everything in moderation. Totally refraining them from something may just lead to an extreme urge to experience it when they do get it. Sometimes its good to learn to regulate it yourself than having others regulate for you….I’m also speaking myself on that 😉
I’m the worst kind of mum and my hub too, cos we never really control the tablet time at home. It is just too difficult especially when I am constantly working on my computer, ipad or the phone even when i’m home.
Our last resort is to switch off wifi so everyone can disconnect and focus on real life interaction.
I sometime switch off the main switch that nothing works no Tv, laptop or phones.. Then comes our board games and stories.
We’ve been limiting our girl’s use of mobile devices since young so thankfully she doesn’t binge on it daily haha.. no doubt the internet is useful but I really like her to rest her hands and eyes and explore spaces in reality too. Kudos to you all for trying this out!
Ai @ Sakura Haruka
Haha.. good one. In my household, no tablets on weekdays and only selected shows on tv for the kids. No limitation for the parents though.. ops!
I should have some no-internet days for my family too 🙂
cheers, Andy
(SengkangBabies.com)
Good job mummy! Although my bub is only 2, he had lots of screen time at grand-parents and after talking to them about it, we have limited screen time for the bub and i must say that was a really good stand we made because now life is more then just watching videos.
Muahaha … an occasional detox like this is good for our souls, your hubs is right!!!! ?
We are a little bit extreme when it comes to screen time at our household.. we have absolutely no ipads, no tablets and only one laptop which we use for work. Children get their TV shows once a week during the weekend, usually 1.5 hours max.
To keep the children busy, we have books, whiteboards and paper for them to doodle, corridors for them to play and run around, or we will go down to the playground if the weather is great.
Good luck with wifi-detoxing! Hehehe
That was hilarious and brave too, good going mama, too much screen time is bad for us too ?
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Wow this has given me an idea to try no internet for myself. I am slowly becoming addicted to staying connected. Going to try it. Will take a lot of guts..*gulp*
Hahahaha.. just loved this post, especially – “Hubby is thinking seriously to impose this blockage on my iPhone also…Oh no”. It is nice to find this blog through WhatsApp group. 🙂
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Mama you need to fix yourself before you fix babies!! you are an addict, i could sense you emotion without the internet in your writing :)) :))
Meers is 10 months old and i already worry about digital addiction and ever since i hav read rehab for digital addiction which is worse than cocaine addiction. i am shit scared like you. Lets all see world without internet. i like internet but i am also like you hubby. Excess of anything is harmful and we agree.
Internet is something that I won’t avoid totally. But shouldn’t become addiction. This blocking in slots works quite well…
Hahaha… Absolutely loved reading this. Felt like you’re sitting in front of and telling me the story over coffee! 😉
Too good. We are also practicing it at our home and to my surprise we all started liking this internet free time.
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