The kids have all taken turns getting sick this week. Barfing, coughing, fevers, you name it. And when a child gets sick in this house, it means one thing: unlimited TV. Maybe you do it differently in your home, but I love to get the wee sickie propped up on the couch, barf bucket nearby, and let the Netflix wash over them like a healing balm.
So, with three kids basically sick for a collective week, our TV was so hot to the touch it gave me a second-degree burn. Not really, but they watched a LOT, is what I’m saying.
Once they got healthy again, I had the job of returning their TV consumption to a more moderate level and it felt a little like I was in an episode of A&E’s Intervention. Brinley, specifically, was taking it hard.
“Brinley, I am offering you a gift today: the gift of life outside of this home, away from the magnetic pull of Shows. Will you accept this gift and go to preschool today?”
And she basically spat in my face, tantrumed as I forced her into her clothes, and tossed her in the truck. Like an angry junkie, she was not ready to accept the gift. But that was too bad, because she didn’t really have a choice. Preschool it was.
So our TV is cooling off for a few days. We all need a break from it.
How do you manage your kids’ screen time limits? Do you find it can get out of control for a time and then you really need to clamp down and help them get back to a more reasonable limit?
The tv is on a lot at our house anyway, though they’re waaaay less engaged when it’s in French (which is the rule during week days). But if anyone is home on a “borderline” sick day, then I make sure it’s the most boring day they’ve ever had in their short little lives, so much that they cannot WAIT to get back to school the next day. I’m the worst mum ever. But when they’re truly sick, I let them do whatever they want…. and that mostly consists of sleeping… 😉