A Boring Summer

I am either the most awesome or the most awful parent on the planet, depending on your level of judginess (not an official word, but you know what I mean).

It has been approximately two weeks since school "officially" ended, and closer to a month for us home learners, and I've been letting Little L have unlimited screen time.  Yes, unlimited.  As in, no limits (within reason, of course, since everything is set to "safe search" and kid-friendly settings).

And while some might be concerned with her consumption of YouTube videos, Disney songs, and Roblox obbys, I am actually not.  At least, not right now.  Because I did the same thing she did when I was a kid, only my summer screen time involved passively gawking at Inspector Gadget, Bugs Bunny, the Flinstones and whatever other cartoons we were able to find on our cable networks.

By contrast, Little L is at least using executive functioning and sequencing skills when she plays King Rabbit, developing amazing hand-eye coordination through Roblox, and dancing and singing along to the random tunes she made me download.  Her YouTube watching has inspired her to reenact some of the stories with her Fancy Nancy, Playmobil and American Girl dolls, and has also been a springboard for her to tell her own versions of these stories orally (expressive language practise)!

By giving her unlimited screen time, I think I've also taken some of the novelty out of it.  Sometimes, Little L is genuinely bored of her iPad, and she has been inviting me to play dolls with her, or pull out the ol' board games, or do some colouring together.  She has also been reading more than she was two months ago.

Despite my helicopter mom urges, I've also been intentional about *not* entertaining my kiddo, or filling up her summer schedule.  Psychologists are recommending that kids be bored in the summer, because it stimulates imagination and motivates kids to form an internal impetus to find ways to occupy their time.  Boredom also gives them the space to discover and follow their interests, as this blogger mommy discovered. As well:

• We are using her privilege of unlimited screen time to demonstrate our trust in Little L's budding judgment, both in terms of *what* she watches and *how* she watches.  
• We are discovering that technology is a great way for her and Daddy to connect and engage; they play Roblox in the same Roblox room/game and go on digital adventures together, and sometimes they teach each other how to pass a King Rabbit level.
• Her screen time has ignited Little L's engineering/"building" abilities, and we were amazed that she created her very first "level" on King Rabbit a couple of weeks ago on a lazy Sunday morning; she actually set everything up independently, and published it without any direction from us whatsoever.  We were super surprised and also very proud. 
• Little L's screen time is creating opportunities for joint media engagement. Setting limits on her searches and having good chats about the questionable language and/or content of a YouTube video is a form of instructive mediation.  Social coviewing happens when we enjoy episodes of Miraculous LadyBug together (and seriously, it is a great show), and parallel play takes place when she happily narrates her styling app to me while I work on the laptop beside her.  Even when she texts or video messages me on Kid Messenger while I'm at work, usually because she misses me and wants to know when I'm coming home, she and I are interacting in an asymmetrical joint media engagement.  
• Typing lessons on her iMac also gives Little L some proficiency in a different outlet for self-expression.

Do we wish Little L wanted to climb trees outside more often?  Yes.  Could she be just a little bit more physically active?  Yes, our whole family really could.  But is unlimited screen time, and an unstructured summer, the worst thing in the world for our kid?  Nope, not even close. 

She worked hard this past year, and did way more first grade work than she needed to (according to her supervising teacher).  I think she earned this summer off.  Every kid has.  

Are you letting your kids get bored?  Have you truly given them a summer "off?"  They deserve one!