How to Tackle the Screen Time Issue in Parenting

"All of my friends have iPads" "When can I get a phone?" "Can we watch SpongeBob?" "Can I play Clash of Clans?" If you have a preteen in your home, you have probably heard these comments or something similar. I am so thankful that my childhood was so much simpler to navigate as we didn't have cable TV and were allowed to choose between five channels to watch for one hour a day. Times have changed and I have come to the realization that I am quite tied to my iPhone – more than I would like. We had to come up with some rules for our home in regards to screen time in order to have consistency and an action plan. I read the book Growing up Social: Raising Relational Kids in a Screen-Driven World by Gary Chapman and Arlene Pellicane for some direction and would like to share some thoughts from the book.

You Are Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

I believe we can learn a lot from each other's lives. I want to thank this anonymous writer for sharing her journey in faith and parenting. Raising children with typical needs is difficult enough and adding in complex behaviours adds a whole other dimension and struggles–it can be exhausting and isolating. My hope is that if this could be a piece of your story that you feel less alone. If this isn't close to your story but something you witness at the park or store, you will be slow to judge and eager to view the situation with a lens of compassion.

We recently reached a milestone birthday with my son. I think that as much as he was extremely excited to hit double digits, my husband and I were equally excited to have reached this with him. I will share some of our journey and the things God taught us along the way.

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for:

This Is the Room: A Peek Into Foster Care

This is the room where Gary painted the walls light green when I was four months pregnant with our first child.

Growing Into Me

When I was 15 I was just a fraction of who I am today; I had so much more to grow–I hopefully still do. I appreciate seeing how far I've come and my own journey has helped me to keep perspective as I see my own kids deal with egocentricity. I thought I knew everything. I thought life was all about what happened up to the age of 19, and who really cared about anything beyond that. People over 19 were old and boring.

 My two goals were the following: Do really well in school to get into sciences at university and get the attention of boys. What this attention looked like didn't really matter– I just wanted to feel beautiful and desirable which I believed would come from boys wanting to ask me out.

I don't know why I didn't care about life beyond my teenage years; I came from a great home, had a church that I was part of, a faith that sort of mattered, was at a good school and had some solid friends. If these were my thoughts at that point, with a pretty decent foundation, what are teens thinking these days with the addition of social media and all the struggles they may have in their own homes and social circles?

Chapmans Cruise the Caribbean

Every year we have one big trip and for 2017 it's an eight night Caribbean cruise with the kids! This is not something that I planned months in advance which is unusual for me. Usually I research and book early but we had no idea until recently that we would have two weeks totally free to do as we wished. We always envisioned an Alaskan cruise with our kids but you can't do that during Spring Break and I wouldn't mind some sunshine right now. 

Family Movie Night with Netflix

I love the tradition of movie nights. When we were kids, we also had them but they involved a lot more work. We had to go to the local video store and rent a VHS (stands for video home system in case you were wondering) that they had to have in stock and also a VCR to play it. Now, we sit on our couch, click on Netflix, search movies, and away we go. 

Thankful Thursday

Somehow it's already Thursday! With B.C's Family Day on Monday it has made it hard to keep track of what day it is. All right, so...I'm feeling a lot of confusion over what I want to do in regards to life/work as changes are coming. Our Little One is moving out very soon and in September Nya will go to school. In order to keep our fostering contract and not have to redo our home study, we can't just take a break for 6 months. We can do respite but there is such a variety of ways this could look–emergency, after hours, respite, relief, short term...I'm not sure what will work best for our family (and I'm pretty certain that anything short term would turn into a long one). I know what our kids want (to continue fostering long term) but it's trickier for Gary and I as there are so many factors to consider–just subbing a couple of times a week would be so much easiser. The pro list for fostering is very short but the ones on the pro side are life changing. All this said, we have a lot going on right now and I'd love any wisdom you have to share.

Harrison Hot Springs Resort and Spa

Harrison Hot Springs Resort and Spa is a place that we go to every year–it's tradition! We've been in every season and there's something especially fun about being in the hot springs pool with snow all around. We go for a quick one night getaway and it's long enough to rejuvenate us and feel like we truly did relax. What do we do while we are there?

For the Uncrafty Mom on Valentine's Day

It is fun to celebrate love and friendship with the upcoming Valentine's Day. I see people sharing their decor ideas, handmade cards and beautiful homemade treats. I get it; in the past I've done Valentine's Day photo sessions with my kids so that they could hand out personalized cards. Unfortunately creativity is not my forte so I just end up feeling frustrated while looking through Instagram and Facebook. I know I could make these amazing things but I don't want to. I have to check myself. Will I enjoy going out to buy these craft items and assembling them with my kids? Nope. Do my kids actually care about anything other than candy? Nope. Well, Nya does care about all things pink and sparkly so I'll make sure to add some glitter to her day. Exhale. Still a good mom.

Thankful Thursday

I haven't written in a week which is highly unusual for me. I feel uninspired and unmotivated. We've also had our kids at home for what feels like forever (two snow days and now my kids have five more days at home). I feel anxiety over the weather and the warnings that have come with it. For the most part, we can just stay home if need be but we do have certain obligations to attend to as well. All that said, I feel out of sorts. So, let's get focused here and figure out what we're thankful for.  Without further adieu..

I am thankful for:

Thankul Thursday

Hello, friends! This week brings cool, windy weather here with a forecast of snow. This makes me feel...cold. And grumpy. So, let's focus on the positives here.  This week I am thankful for: