Can I play Wii? Can I watch TV? Can I play computer?

These three questions have plagued our household since school ended in May.  The boys were bombarding me everyday, almost constantly.  Tegan wasn't interested in technology when the summer started but his mouse skills on the computer have developed substantially.  Davian is a screen addict.  He LOVES the Wii, computer, Netflix and the like.  This was getting to be a constant battle.  And a tug of war with the boys and their differing interests.  Now that I am a Stay At Home Mom (for now) I knew that I needed to have a consistant way to deal with this issue for my sanity and peace in our house.  I was really thinking about this when I remembered a post by a friend in North Carolina who created a system which turned the accountability for "screen time" over to the kids.  I modified it to meet the needs for our family.

Each box on the kids' charts represents 30 minutes of screen time.  They have 3 boxes per day for a total of 90 minutes of screen time. It could be any of the big three: Wii, computer or TV.  I also had to put the stipulation that if one watched the other playing the Wii or computer, it counted as "screen time".  The boundaries are as follows:

1. You have to ask if the time is appropriate for screen time.
2. When the timer goes off, you have to turn off or log off immediately.
3. Using any portion of the time accounts for all the time used.
4. Extra time cannot be earned.
5. One box can be lost as a consequence.
6. Family movie/Wii time does not impact the chart. Or if I give them something to do during our learning time.

It has been interesting to watch the boys react to this over the progression of the week.  On Monday, both boys burned through their boxes quite quickly.  I had to remind them several times that once they used up their time they couldn't earn anymore.  By noon, both boys had used up all their time.  Honestly, it was as hard for me as it was for them because I couldn't pacify them by putting them on the computer or TV.  It was a habit I had easily fallen into.  That afternoon was painful, but the system had taken the emotion out it.  They couldn't argue with the fact that their boxes were used up.

Tuesday, Davian was much better about budgeting his time.  He divided it up into 2 time sections, the morning and after lunch.  Tegan used most of his time quickly.  Today was a different story.  Tegan didn't use any of his time until almost dinner time today and then even then he only spent about 1/2 of the time.  Davian spread his time over three sessions today. 

This system has brought much more sanity to our days and has eliminated the argument over "screen time".