Alison Curtis: Can you put a price on your child's mindfulness?
Alison Curtis has found a solution to getting her daughter Joan off her screen.
Over the past year, there is no denying that parents have had to rely on devices a lot more than before. They need them to occupy their children while they try to work. Kids need them for school, to stay connected to friends, and for extracurriculars that have now gone online.
There are days when I would be afraid to tally the amount of time my daughter Joan has been in front of a screen.
Often after her class Zoom, she has a break — but then jumps on again to chat to a pal or to play a game.
I was particularly aware of how much screen time she was having last week. It was absolutely affecting her mood for the worse. She was really quick to snap at me and get upset. And defiantly fought me every time I told her to put it down.
I was getting so frustrated. She was having the biggest outbursts when I told her to turn it off and do something else. I must have said: “Read a book, draw, play with the endless toys you got for Christmas,” a million times. But she found none of those suggestions appealing.
I would then go on to defend myself and say it was for work. Which, many times, it is — but she also often catches me scrolling on Instagram.
This argument was cyclical and not getting either of us any closer to a resolution. So one morning early last week, I had a brainwave and suggested we go to an arts and crafts shop.
Her excitement all the way to the shop was the happiest she had been in a few days. She burst through the door and you could actually make out her smile behind the mask. We headed straight to the arts and crafts aisle. We started by buying Tupperware to make a plan of action, where would all the new bits go. Then we grabbed pretty much everything in sight. Paint, paintbrushes, glue, slime activator, beads, glitter, paper — you name it, we grabbed it.
On the way home, she was already making plans for the kind of slime she would make and the things she would draw. She was electric with happiness.
What followed was an amazing week of peace. Each day after her class Zoom, she set up a workstation and got busy. One day it was painting, the next she made slime.
My husband and I were surprised at the quiet in the house and at how much we could get done in our respective jobs. She would be working away on her art projects for hours, only surfacing for snacks and meals. She had the tablet beside her to play music, but other than that, it was off.
She made so many cool things and was so proud of each one. There was a calm in the house, we weren’t shouting at one another, and there were no draining outbursts at the suggestion that the tablet be put away. But most of all, Joan was so happy and content. She was being incredibly creative, and I could even go as far as to say mindful. She was off the screen and using her imagination.
All of these things would be worth a trip and €20 of supplies any day, in my opinion.
