40 Hilarious Parenting Tweets About What It’s Like To Raise Kids In The Age Of Alexa And Siri

Blogger Molly shared some warning signs that it might be time to get worried that our kids are spending far too much time in front of screens and using tech. "When parents see amped-up sibling spats, if screen time ends and your child falls apart, if your child complains of boredom when screens aren't an option: these are all good indicators that your kids might be ready for a screen break," she noted. "The bad news is that kids are spending seven hours per day on digital entertainment. This is not good for our kids."

However, Molly also stressed that there's some good news, too. Parents are "in the driver's seat" and call the shots when it comes to tech use. "We get to decide how much and what kind of tech to allow in our homes. If the screen time status quo isn't working in your house, confidently make a change," she told Bored Panda.

I was curious to find out about how to balance tech use timewise, so Molly shared what works in her family. "During the week, we only use digital entertainment after dinner, and we use it together. We'll watch a family show or movie, but not every night. Other nights we play board games, card games, or baseball or football outside. We have six kids, ages 12 and under. None of our kids have phones. Certainly, this plan isn't ideal for every family, but eliminating daily video gaming/tablets has transformed the culture of our home in the best way," the parenting expert explained how her family limits tech use.

Molly said that parents ought to ask themselves a simple question: "If our kids only have two or three hours of unstructured time at the end of a school day, how much of that time do we want them consuming entertainment?" The answer to that should then help parents structure how their children spend their free time.

The blogger was frank that tech can have negative, not just positive, effects on children. "Our family loves technology, but too much of it was bringing out the worst in our kids," she said (and many of us can relate). "Putting tech in its proper place in your home will require a little trial and error. But allowing kids to develop skills and habits outside of the digital world will repay dividends for their mental, emotional and social wellbeing. (Interesting that many tech giants are some of the most screen-restrictive parents!)"

In Molly's opinion, the best way to limit tech use while avoiding tantrums is to "relegate it to specific days and windows of time." If everyone knows the rules beforehand, it's easier to follow them. "In our house, we don't isolate and consume digital entertainment. If the kids only get a half-hour or an hour of video games per week, and it's always on Sundays, they won't even ask for it on the other days. It's not even an option," she gave an example of how this works in practice.

"Good parents can have different screen time plans that suit their unique family. But whatever that plan is, create firm boundaries. In the long-term, you'll find that your kids turn their boredom into opportunity. We also need to ditch the idea that our job is to entertain our kids. We are not cruise ship directors, we are parents. Guide, help, love, nurture, cultivate, equip, mentor? Yes. Entertain? No."