My husband and I did something capital C crazy a few weeks ago, completely on a whim. No parental strategy, no thoughtful discussion weighing pros and cons. Nope, he just made a passing comment about how our kids’ screen time on their various mobile devices – a few hand-me-down iPhones and a Kindle received as a Christmas gift last year – drove him up the wall, and I agreed. So we rounded everything up and stashed them all away. It’s crazy to me that taking away mobile devices is a crazy … [Read more...]
Raising Kids in a Digital World: 8 Books to Help Modern Parents
Parenting in the digital world is something that has been on my mind SO much lately. I've been wondering about everything from the best apps to keep my kids safe online and what kind of screen time limits to enforce, to how my own phone use affects my kids. That last one is a doozy and has been especially worrying me lately as my job is online so I'm definitely on my phone more than I'd like... In fact, after I read this list from our in-house children's librarian, Janssen, I raced to get the … [Read more...]
Our Secret Tool for Raising Kids Who Are Safe & Responsible On Their Phones
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of OurPact. We've got such a cool tool to share with you guys today from our newest sponsor, OurPact. I really, really think you're going to find it to be one of the most valuable apps you own- and it's free! Kristin is going to go into lots of detail below, but in a nutshell this genius app gives parents the ability to control exactly when, and how long, their kids can use the apps, or the internet on their phones AND to block any apps … [Read more...]
Friday Find: “Screenagers” Documentary
The "Screenagers" documentary poster on a wall outside the theater at Sir Francis Drake High School in San Anselmo, California, on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016. Photo: Connor Radnovich, The Chronicle Have you guys seen the preview for this new documentary? It looks amazing (and also a little terrifying). As a mom who started having kids at almost exactly the same time that the smartphone was born, the issue of kids and screens is one that I think about A LOT. I agree whole-heartedly with the … [Read more...]