Family tech & habits update: We’re trying to wean the kids from spending so much time passively consuming visual entertainment (Kavi has watched all of Friends TWICE, which just seems wrong), so with the new year, we’re trying something new.
We turn off all family devices at 7:30 (bedtime for the 10-year-old is 8:30), so that the blue light doesn’t mess up the sleep-scheduling part of our brains. We try to do a family board game then, before bedtime routines. Two nights ago, it was a quick game of Go Fish, followed by a little time picking up Anand’s bedroom.
Last night, Kev and the kids played Machi Koro with the Harbor expansion; I was too sick to join them, but lay in bed nearby reading and enjoying the sounds of their laughter and snark. The kids were trouncing Kevin, I think because he avoided mackerel and tuna-related cards, since he doesn’t like fish, which is really very bad strategy for the Harbor expansion.
They didn’t quite finish the game before bedtime, so it’s suspended to be finished tonight. Unstable Unicorns is planned to be next in the rotation.
(They also spent a few minutes picking up the library before heading up to bed. I am determined to get them in the habit of quickly cleaning up common spaces this year, doing it in little bits daily so it doesn’t get onerous.)
CAVEAT: still allowed: podcasts, listening to music, and Kindle Paperwhites for reading (which don’t emit the blue light that interferes with sleep.) Possibly also *making* videos; that’s under discussion.
2ND CAVEAT: Sometimes a grown-up will use devices again after the kids are down, but we’re working on stopping that. It’s hard.