Let the mom-shamers out of the woodwork, I’m ready for it.
I let my kids eat breakfast, dinner, and even have snacks in front of the TV.
I know the studies and statistics showing the negative effects of screen time. I know my children’s pediatrician would be horrified to read this.
At the end of the day, if it means my kids are happy, and I have a few minutes of peace and quiet, I’m OK with it.
Is this a daily occurrence? No. Does it happen more often than I would like? Yes. Do I feel guilty usually when I let my kids do it? You betcha. Do I usually get retaliation from my kids when I force them, no matter how much they complain, to eat at the kitchen table instead? Sometimes. Do I recognize that this is an issue I’ve brought upon myself? Yep.
As much as my children want to have the relaxation and comfort of eating in front of the TV, I want the relaxation and comfort of some alone time to myself. Granted, this may be due to the fact that I’m basically a single, full-time working parent (my husband and I work opposite shifts) but I imagine several families have the same daily struggle. My kids go to school all day and are tired as well by the time they come home. Especially with my picky eaters, it’s sometimes easier to give into something like watching TV with their dinner rather than having more arguments about what they’re eating at the table.
This doesn’t mean that I leave my kids in front of the TV to eat by themselves and binge watch whatever is on Disney Channel. I’m constantly with my kids, monitoring what they’re watching, making sure they’re eating, and doing my mom-multitasking all at the same time.
You know what else my children do? They will sometimes sleep in the clothes they’ve worn throughout the day because they’re too tired to switch into PJs and I’m too tired to fight with them about the need to wear PJs. By the same token, they’ll sometimes stay in PJs all day if we have no plans to leave the house.
All of this is OK in my book. Is it the way we live day-to-day? Not at all. But sometimes I feel like there are too many other struggles happening in my life and avoiding an argument with my kids so there is less yelling and more comforting in our house seems like a fair trade-off.
I’m a Type A person by nature – rules and order are what I live for. But now and again, when I just need to let things go, these are some of the things I let my kids get away with. I would have never imagined “breaking the rules” before I became a parent. As we moms know, though, things are completely different from before kids, to after kids.
Call it the mom-gut feeling, but I know when there are nights that both my kids and I need downtime and the other nights when we all need the family time. At the end of the day, this is one of the many rules that I like to follow in my mom book.
