Dining Out and Screen Time

Hashtag Bad Mom.  #badmom

My husband and I were on vacation in Laguna Beach forever ago... forever before kids... and we went to this tiny little cafe to have breakfast.  A sweet family with three kids... aged like 5, 8, and 12 or so.  The family came in, sat at the bar, and all the kids popped up an iPad.  They didn't talk to each other... they didn't look at the amazing view... they just watched shows on their iPads and ate.

We did the whole "when WE are parents..." thing.  We would NEVER walk into a restaurant and stick a screen in front of our kid's face!  Our kids will know how to be patient.  Our kids will know how to have pleasant conversations over breakfast.  Our kids will not even really care about screens!

You can probably tell where this is going.

Honestly - I really don't have any issues with screens.  We have a TV in our playroom that is almost always on.  Our girls will sit and watch a show... but really it's mostly music and background noise.  We did get them their very own Kindles to play with... but really it was just so they wouldn't break our nice iPads.  I also feel that the more we limit something, the more they'll obsess over it.  So there aren't really any set "rules" in our house when it comes to screens.

We started bringing the screens with us to use as a LAST ditch effort to calm the crazy.  The older the girls got... the crazier they would get.  Meals would start off okay, then they'd get antsy, then they'd get loud, then we'd start to threaten and bargain............ and then out comes the screens.

One day, it dawned on me... when we are at home for dinner the girls sit at the table and then are immediately served a meal.  When we get to a restaurant, we sit at the table and then expect them to be perfect little angels while we wait.  And wait.  And wait.  ...  I realized that is a totally unrealistic expectation.  No wonder they went a little bonkers!  And we don't have screen rules at home, why would I expect them to understand screen rules while we're out?

Now?  Now we get to a restaurant and immediately toss those screens out.  They play a silly game for a little bit, and by the time dinner arrives they're bored with whatever game is on the Kindle and they're ready to eat! 

Seriously.  Life changing.

So, just another "never" to add to my list.  And to that family that I judged so heavily in Laguna Beach 6 years ago... sorry about that.