You say that you don’t want them on screens. You say that you wish they could entertain themselves. You say that your hope is that they find the things that interest them, that you want them to be curious, that you want them to have hobbies or play sports or make art.

And what are you doing?

You’re rushing them on your walk because they’re going slow and you guys have somewhere to be. You’re telling them to get that bug away from you. You’re half-listening to their story because you find it boring (or worse, because you’re on your screen). You’re shutting down their questions because they’re inconvenient or inappropriate or they’re flustering you.

Right now, they’re interested in something. Right now, they’re being curious. Right now, there is not a screen in sight. Why are you interrupting this? Why are you placing limits on it? Why are you sending the wrong message?

Encourage it.

Appreciate it. Enjoy it. Because soon enough they’re going to lose interest, soon enough they’re going to remember that YouTube exists, soon enough they’re going to ask if they can play Minecraft or use your laptop. And you’ll miss this. And they’ll miss what you deprived them of.

P.S. We highly recommend psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. It explores the effects of social media and smartphones on our kids and what parents can do about it (you can grab a copy from The Painted Porch here). And check out our conversation with Jonathan Haidt, “How Stoicism Can Beat Your Social Media Addiction.”