The “information” age, where all they want to do is sit and either 1) play games on the iPad 2) steal our cell phones and watch Netflix 3) or watch TV all day long.
They only use their ipads for schooling purposes 🙂Last summer was worse than ever. We were 3 weeks into our RV trip and just arrived in Brussels, Belgium. The week prior it had been raining for a week in Rotterdam, Netherlands and we spent most of the time in the RV. The kids got so used to using their electronics day and night we couldn’t get them up early enough to go outdoors to go sightseeing. They got lazy and just wanted to stay in the RV with their eyes glued to their iPads all day long.
So hubby and I decided to take away all of their electronics for the rest of our trip (taking it out only for schooling) to see what would happen. No iPad’s, phones, computers or TV anymore during this trip. The complaining lasted for 3 days finally tapering off after a week. By the 2nd week, they no longer asked for their iPads or our phones. In fact, both hubby and I also starting reading more and not looking at our mobile phones constantly, allowing us all to enjoy and be in the moment. Taking in all that our trip to Europe was to be about… Family.
Being silly on the streetOur children are 5 and 7, so we found it a bit easy since all they really want to do is play all day long. However, for those of you with teenagers I can image this would be a difficult task but can be done with a plan. For example; some of our friends sign their kids up every summer for Youth Summer Camp while others arrange tutoring and/or music lessons for their children to make sure they’re aren’t at home on the computer all day. There’s a vast number of activities available for children in your own communities, you just have to look.
LouLou loving every moment of exploring Europe!We spent a lot of time roaming the streets of Europe, just being together. Visiting museums, parks, festivals and participating in outdoor activities that were available in each country we visited. It was fun, it’s what bonded us together, closer than ever before. We talk, laugh, (sometimes we argue) but most of the time we just enjoy each others company.
Learning some new skills this summer!This year we’re spending our summer in Detroit, Michigan and have signed the children up for theatre and swim teams which they enjoy going to daily. By the end of the day they are exhausted and just want a good meal and sleep.
My daughter would watch Netflix all day if I’d let her (which I won’t!). I’m looking forward to our screen-free vacation later this summer. We all need to disconnect! Thanks for linking up at the Manic Mondays blog hop!
Getting them involved in activities this summer has certainly helped decrease the time they spend indoors ‘bored’! Thanks so much for organizing the blog hop – such a great way to discover new blogs. 🙂
Unplugging is so hard to do, but is definitely necessary. I used to limit my kids and explained to them why. Now that they are in college, they are on their on. When they come home they still follow my no phones at the table rule so I know that they actually learned something.
My daughter would watch Netflix all day if I’d let her (which I won’t!). I’m looking forward to our screen-free vacation later this summer. We all need to disconnect! Thanks for linking up at the Manic Mondays blog hop!
Getting them involved in activities this summer has certainly helped decrease the time they spend indoors ‘bored’! Thanks so much for organizing the blog hop – such a great way to discover new blogs. 🙂
Unplugging is so hard to do, but is definitely necessary. I used to limit my kids and explained to them why. Now that they are in college, they are on their on. When they come home they still follow my no phones at the table rule so I know that they actually learned something.
We still struggle especially when they get invited to the neighbors who have it all.