Punishment? or Life change?

This past week has not been easy, as the kids kept asking, "Can I play ...?". The answer was "No." Then, "When can I play...?". The answer was "Not this week.". Then, "When will be get our screen-time back?" The answer was, "I don't know." I honestly don't know. Then, "Why am I being punished? I didn't do anything!" Well, that's the kicker. This is NOT a punishment, which I had to explain over and over. Yes, loss of screen-time has been used as a punishment in the past.  I think that's one of the reasons why I didn't pull the plug earlier, because I knew this was something that I could hold over them. If I didn't have screen-time to take away, what COULD I take away as a punishment?

But this is not a punishment. This is a life change we're making (or at least, attempting). I want to get away from screen-time as a reward or lack of it as a punishment. My goal is to let electronics be used in moderation, to be enjoyed, but not to control us. We're not there yet! There were a lot of tantrums, and a lot of begging, but we're still going strong.

This week is our detox week.  It was our chance to get used to the idea of what else we can do when electronics are not an option.  We read aloud (from at least 3-4 different books), we went sledding, we build a couch cushion fort, we played with stuffed animals.  It was really great! I don't know how long we'll have to go through this period, before I slowly let them back on. (I'll admit, I did let them use it a few times, but each time, I regretted it, because when it was time to move on to the next thing, they proved again to me that they can't tear themselves away, even with adequate warning time. It inevitably ends with me turning something off, and a meltdown of, "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO SHUT IT OFF?" Well, because you didn't stop when I asked you to...repeatedly. ) I think I'll start allowing moderate use, once they stop seeing this as a punishment.