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Free parenting help
And now for some advice from those $250/hr screen counselors to help wean your kids off their phones along with some of my favorite passages from the article.
Sometimes, it’s just really simple. Actually, it is simple.
“I try to really meet the parents where they are, and now often it is very simple: ‘Do you have a plain old piece of material that can be used as a cape?’” said Ms. Moskowitz. “‘Great!’”
“‘Is there a ball somewhere? Throw the ball,’” she said. “‘Kick the ball.’”
“Is there enough running around that will help them see their autonomy? Is there a jungle gym or a jumping rope?”
But of course, some folks overcomplicate it.
“I say, ‘Just try to remember what you did as a kid,’” Ms. Pollard said. “And it’s so hard, and they’re very uncomfortable, but they just need to remember.”
“When we were growing up, we didn’t have these, so our parents couldn’t role model appropriate behaviors to us, and we have to learn what is appropriate so we can role model that for them.”
An example of when the word miracle has become meaningless:
They will come back with memories of painting or looking at the moon. “They report back like it’s a miracle,” Ms. Pollard said.
Finally, some truth.
“It’s not that challenging, be attentive to your phone use, notice the ways it interferes with being present,” said Erica Reischer, a psychologist and parent coach in San Francisco. “There’s this commercialization of everything that can be commercialized, including this now.”
Ok, this is getting weird:
“You won’t send your kid into the kitchen with a hot stove without giving them instructions or just hand them a knife,” Ms. Wasserstrom said. “You have to be a role model on safe ways to use a knife.”
“I tell a lot of parents to get a dog,” Mr. Halpern said. “Or I say, ‘Show a screen to your cat.’ They don’t care. They’re fully present. They’re living. That’s a great role model.”
“I’ll say, ‘What if you were looking at your dog and your dog was on a phone? That wouldn’t be as fun, would it?’” |
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