Some of you may not know that our very own Liza writes for Neighborhood Parent’s Network, one of our very favorite organizations! Liza is the mom of two young kiddos, and an amazing, thoughtful resource for parenting tips and advice. We are luckily sharing her latest piece, focused on screen time rules, pre- and post-pandemic! Thank you, Liza!

Written by Liza Balistreri Cahill for Neighborhood Parent’s Network

I remember being pregnant with my daughter (kiddo #1), and having very ambitious plans about what kind of parent I was going to be…

Make homemade baby food? Of course! How organic.

And screen time? No way! I’m going to be a totally involved, dedicated parent focusing on real-life experiences.

WELLLLLL fast forward slightly to balancing work and life with a kiddo. In comes the kid-friendly shockproof iPad case so we can start with Sesame Street and Chu Chu TV. Still limiting the time to when I’m cooking dinner or taking a quick shower…

AAAAAND fast forward a bit more to introduce kiddo #2, global pandemic, lifestyle shut down, still working and balancing life and trying not to lose my mind. (Thank you, iPad Screen Time Alert for reminding me how much my daughter’s use increased when that happened. Ugh.)

So what is the right call these days? Obviously we are all trying our best just to SURVIVE right now. Most kids are at home e-learning, and most parents are balancing working from home with parenting and schooling at the same time. Times are not easy. But our pendulum has swung in both directions and I feel like we’ve found our healthy and practical balance.

Let’s start with Google (a good way to achieve a baseline what “they” say is good or not good): The American Academy of Pediatrics, which, depending on the child’s age, generally recommends no or very limited screen time for kids, has recognized that kids’ media use will likely increase under these stressful circumstances. (See the AAP’s article on healthychildren.org -> COVID-19 link.) Among their recommendations are:

Keep a routine
Use screen time for positive, social connections
Choose quality content
Use media together

Recommended screen times are definitely fluctuating now, too. Obviously if you have a middle-schooler who needs to virtually attend classes, their necessary daily screen time is likely more than a toddler’s. But the recommendations for keeping media use useful and also balanced can be broadly applied across different ages. Our family’s pandemic pendulum is more or less in a balanced state, and thankfully it seems to follow the AAP’s suggestions. Here’s what it took to get us there:

Routine & schedule: When the lockdown started and we were going bonkers trying to figure things out, screen time was whenever I felt stressed or didn’t know what else to do. But it felt panicked, disorganized and lazy to consistently use it that way. So we wrote up a schedule and had very specific times on when screen time was allowed. Still very useful when I need to focus on cooking dinner.

Positivity & socializing: We have all been Zooming and FaceTiming more, and when my daughter started asking to call her friends, it was a great way for her feel like she had some control on her own socialization. And watching two 4-year-olds have an in-depth conversation about how much they like mac & cheese is pretty cute.

Quality content: This is really important to me. I’m pretty strict about being on YouTube. Kids can go down some weird wormholes watching videos of other kids eating gross food or strange adult hands playing with kids’ toys. We like Numberblocks and Cosmic Kids, videos of kids building with engineering-related materials. We also have total veg-out options, of course, like Disney+ movies on Friday nights and Saturday morning cartoons.

Togetherness: Sometimes I sit with my daughter to chat with her about what’s she’s watching. Hearing her tell me about how multiplication works or how she is calming her yogi energy makes me feel re-connected with her, and allows her to process the information she’s absorbing and explain it in her own words.

Forgive yourself: As a parent, we are often our own worst critics. There are times when I’ll need to jump on my computer when I’m wearing my Mom Hat and we are supposed to be having a no-iPad lunch. Guess what? Sometimes the schedule changes, and my daughter gets a bonus movie-with-PB&J time. Don’t feel guilty if it happens.

Structuring your kids’ screen time within this frame work can help you achieve a more successful balance in these crazy times. Using media as a limited tool – or an emergency helper! – is very normal. You know that you have some time to focus on your own tasks while your kids’ brains aren’t turning into mush. And a no-mush brain is always a win for a parent!

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