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Let’s face it, raising kids these days is a whole new ball game compared to when I was growing up. Back then, the biggest fight was over who got to use the landline first. Now, it’s a constant negotiation about screen time and when that coveted cell phone makes its debut.
I wasn’t one of those parents who handed my firstborn a phone at the first sign of middle school angst. It wasn’t until she was 14, thanks to a well-meaning grandma, that she finally joined the texting world. Funny thing was, her new school, unlike mine, embraced phones in the classroom. They’d pull them out for research, fundraising, you name it. My daughter, the lone phone-less kid, got some puzzled looks when it came time to “sell” cookies digitally. It was a learning experience, for sure.
But here’s the thing, I believe in electronics detox. Every now and then, I’d institute a “no screen” month. No TV, no phones, just pure, unadulterated childhood. You wouldn’t believe the initial groans — “But Mom, what about the new episode of…?” Let me tell you, everything is a rerun somewhere! But then, something magical happened. They rediscovered the joy of just being kids…
