Joining the "no digital parent shaming" movement

I absolutely support the "no digital parent shaming" movement. But I also support providing parents and children with alternative options, resources and information for digital parenting. I mostly support this because I need all the help I can get!

I am completely guilty of checking my devices throughout the day while my children are ... awake, mostly because my office is my phone and my business is at home. Finding balance between parenting and work from home is a daily battle and one that I'm still trying to negotiate. My kids, meanwhile, have access to little screen time and are doing an excellent job filling their days without screens. Seriously, this lack of balance is all on me!

So to manage this, let me share some of our family rules about technology:

1) No screens at the table (breakfast, lunch AND supper)
2) No TVs in the bedroom
3) Family movie night is Friday night - it's a very special night!
4) Mama's iPad is for meditating (access to headspace), research and music - kids cannot use it unless they ask permission
5) Mama's phone is not a toy and is not to be used by any children.
6) No phone calls while driving (when kids are in the car).
7) Wii fit and movies are for gross rainy days, not sunny happy days.
8) Children cannot have any screens in their bedrooms (unless used for meditation).

What we're working on:

1) No phones/ipads/computers in the bedroom.
2) Checking texts/emails/facebook/blog posts before 7am, between 9:30-3pm, and after 8pm is A-Okay.
3) Trying to be flexible with ALL the rules listed above - we're a family that is growing and evolving, and sometimes we need to watch Grey's Anatomy while lying in bed and sometimes on sunny days, our kids need to watch Paw Patrol. Our goal is to make it the exception... not the rule.

How about yourselves? How are you working with technology in your world?

ps: The best thing we ever did was to stop watching TV for a year. Need some inspiration? Check out this post: december-15th-2016.html