Some days its way to hot to just kick them outside. Ill usually have them do all of their chores before allowing any electronics. If its real hot, ill turn the sprinklers on to get dd outside playing, or ask her and ds to go wash the cars and get wet, have fun. In the evenings I bribe ds to take dd around the corner to the park. On my off days we go to the beach or to the pool. Other than that, I don't mind to let them use the electronics for the most part as long as it isn't ALL day.

That is good. Mine probably need more chores, as all day means starting at 9 & going until 9! That is 12 hours, only breaking for family dinner and afternoon chores which take like 30 minutes. The 8yo will sometimes go play outside with friends, but not always.

Take the screens away. My kids are young and they don't have screens. They play outside, swim, play with the dogs, and we take trips to the park, the zoo, etc. Our biggest issue is on rainy days when the kids want to go outside and they can't.

That is great. I agree, my DSs rarely had screens when they were younger than 2nd grade.

But now that  is really not an option for me. As they really value that leisure time and it would be cruel to completely take it away from them without sound reasoning and likely cause immense resentment at a time when I need to be building connections and mutual respect, prior to the teen years.

Quote from: LiveWhatULove on June 06, 2018, 09:40:24 pm

Quote from: Dalmatian_Plantation on June 06, 2018, 03:29:53 pm

Take the screens away. My kids are young and they don't have screens. They play outside, swim, play with the dogs, and we take trips to the park, the zoo, etc. Our biggest issue is on rainy days when the kids want to go outside and they can't.

That is great. I agree, my DSs rarely had screens when they were younger than 2nd grade.

But now that  is really not an option for me. As they really value that leisure time and it would be cruel to completely take it away from them without sound reasoning and likely cause immense resentment at a time when I need to be building connections and mutual respect, prior to the teen years.

So what I'm reading is that you would rather be their friend than a parent. They can have leisure time without being parked in front of a screen 24/7. This is why there is a childhood obesity epidemic in this country.

Lol, I guess that is one interpretation/opinion. All of my children are healthy weight. My children are free to make their own choices about many things, including their hobbies. I do not police their likes and dislikes. I set healthy boundaries, review our family values and encourage my children to make their own choices.

I am doing the best I can, based on the literature & books I have read, courses I have taken and my own & childrens' unique temperaments. Obviously you feel you are doing even better, good for you, parent away. I wish everyone success. I am glad your kids are happy living without technology. It's an anomaly in this day and age.

You are making excuses as to why they will not go outside or play.  Take the electronics away, you are the parent you make the rules.  My son is hardly on this phone during the day ( summer or winter) he is outside majority of the time.  Either that or bugging the living daylight out of us because he heard of another hockey camp. 
I think it is because we did activities with them when they were really young.  My children and I still go for bike rides, hikes, walks and swimming.  If you do things together and make it fun they want to continue.

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Quote from: LiveWhatULove on June 05, 2018, 09:46:12 pm

Quote from: AlexsMomAubrys2 on June 05, 2018, 06:46:55 pm

Make it a family event. Everyone goes for a walk/hike/swim/park at least once during the day. Our kids can get pretty lazy if we let them but we make a point to do something fun outside a few times a week and try to get to the gym pool a few times a week as well. They don't complain because we are doing it as a family.

I think that is a great idea but It just dorsn’t Work for us. I get my exercise in at 5am by walking/jogging.

Why can't you do it woth them?


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They do not want to get up at 5 and I respect that, it is their summer. I am a busy person. I simply do not want to dedicate anothet several hours to hand holding my 8 & 10 year through exercise. I take them to the pool already.

I know there are many successful ways to parent, but for my family, it is unreasonable to expect teens to need their mother to organize their routine DAILY physical activity. These are Life skills, they need to embrace it. Sure I still help them get to athletic camps, the pool, and special activities, but they need to step up and make decisions about their health and well-being. They are not toddlers. In my opinion, if we hike or walk as a family activity, that is fine, but it is just not reasonable to do that daily.

You are making excuses as to why they will not go outside or play.  Take the electronics away, you are the parent you make the rules.  My son is hardly on this phone during the day ( summer or winter) he is outside majority of the time.  Either that or bugging the living daylight out of us because he heard of another hockey camp. 
I think it is because we did activities with them when they were really young.  My children and I still go for bike rides, hikes, walks and swimming.  If you do things together and make it fun they want to continue.

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I respect your opinion, however I use an authoritarian parenting style, and I do set boundaries with electronics. You are suggesting an authoritative parenting style, and that is fine if it works for your family.

Your assumption & anecdotal story about being active about your family being active when they were young does not really apply to us. They were very active toddlers & pre-schoolers as well, and due their dependence at that age, i was quite involved. We had lots of fun. But they need to develop self-care skills of their own at their ages; they need to step up and make some of their own decisions.

They are doing a little better anyway, since I first posted this. Thanks for the advice though, glad your DS is having a healthy happy summer!

We homeschool year round so we will go back to work on the 18th for a month until their next trip to FL. In all honesty, I don't push my kids to go outside at all. I'm an indoors person myself so there is no way I'm going to push them to go outside in the heat and humidity. They have no friends in our subdivision as all the other kids are either in HS or toddlers. We have no pool, no community pool, no trails, etc around us. When we are on break, they are free to do as they wish until karate class. If they choose to sit on their ipods streaming something, playing Minecraft together, facetiming one of their gazillion minions as I call them, so be it.

I understand, I am glad that works for them.

 I just get nervous about their health, and especially for my learning disability with ADHD tendencies kiddo. I tell him everyday "movement play and exercise will help your brain learn buddy!" And I think he listens. He actually loves to play outside IF he has friends, lol, but I get push back if it is just him or his brother!

I still have not settled on a martial arts studio. But I have been looking.