I think I am very different in my views than most of the parents on the site. My children are allowed to play on the computer daily, they watch tv daily, and they do not have strict daily limits on any of that. I do nudge at them if I think they've been at it too long, and I do stop them if they start arguing about it. The big rule is that homework is done before anything else, and that on chore days, those have to be finished as well.
My oldest son does not have a lot of interest in the computer. He will play it, get tired of it, and want to go outside and play. So, I don't worry about it with him. He enjoys the DS, but mostly in the car.
My youngest son, age 6, has the addictive personality his dad did. He can play for a long time. He also gets mad at it and will continue playing. He is realizing at a very young age, however, the tradeoffs he sometimes makes and he has begun to understand the consequences of those tradeoffs. So, he decides to play on the computer while his brother goes out to play with the neighborhood kids and realizes at dinner time that he has missed his chance to do something with his friends. He gets annoyed. He has begun to resent the hold that the TV has on him and asks me to turn it off at times so he won't get sucked in. I am happy with this, I know what teen age years look like in a child like him who has never learned to regulate himself. I feel that we are making good progress towards him learning to manage his time at an early age instead of me managing his time for him.
Last edited by Artana; 08/13/09 09:46 AM.
