My boys are ages seven and nine. They’re pretty much done with me.
Seriously! I’m the big, bad mama who makes them do their homework, finish their dinner, clean up after themselves and watch their language. And all this could be tolerated – even appreciated – if I didn’t have one, unforgivable, tantrum-inducing power:
The ability to take away their electronics. Oh yeah. I’m a baddie.
To fully appreciate their addiction to tablets, video games, computers and the like, here’s what happened when I told Ryder to “go outside and play on the trampoline.”
Yoink! That 3DS disappeared in a heartbeat. There I go again, being the bad cop!
Now before you bestow über-parenting respect on me for carefully monitoring their screen time, I must admit that the amount of time they stare at electronics does not bother me at all. I spend 14 hours every day basking in the eye-twitching white glow of a desktop computer, and I have no illusions that my boys will fare any better. They even read books on tablets! …