Sick Days & Screen Time – Let’s Talk About It

Let’s get real—sick days hit differently when you’re a parent. Remember those NyQuil & DayQuil commercials? “Moms don’t get sick days?” Yeah, kind of like that but I’m talking about when your kiddos are sick, which lets face it is often. And when the kiddos are sick you can feel completely helpless. When my kids are sick, we throw all our usual rules out the window. Why? Because being sick is miserable, and if laying on the couch watching shows makes it a little easier, then so be it. The TV goes on, the shows play, and we all survive.

Now, on a normal day, my kids have a set “tech time” after they finish their evening chores—cleaning the playroom, unloading dishes, and setting the table for dinner. (Yes, they do all of this together without my help… most days. It’s possible!) Once chores are done, they get:

1) 15-20 minutes of educational games (ABC Mouse, Khan Academy, foreign language, or typing)
2) Free-choice PBS Kids shows or PBS Kids games until dinner (usually 15 minutes or so)

That’s the system, and it works for us! Oh, and don’t come at me, but Bluey is no longer allowed in this house. Love the memes, couldn’t stand the show. 😅 We stick to PBS Kids for the most part, with the occasional Disney movie or show (after Mom Approval or a watch-along).

But back to sick days—are my kids getting unlimited TV when they’re miserable on the couch? Absolutely. No mom guilt here. I know what it’s like to be sick, and when I’m down, you better believe I want to binge-watch something too. Last week, we had a bug take out the eldest and youngest, and I swear I could recite every Wild Kratts episode by heart now. 

Let’s stop shaming parents for using tech. The real issue with screen time isn’t the screen—it’s how we teach kids to manage it and the fact that kids are drowning themselves in social media and trying to build connections behind a device instead of face to face. As long as they learn balance, independence, and how to actually be bored sometimes, I’d like to think we are doing okay. Maybe my feelings will change once I finish  The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness By Jonathan Haidt. Perhaps I’ll have to write a review on that later…no promises tho, I’m not one for book reports. 

What’s your go-to sick day show lineup? Do you let the screen time rules slide, too? Let’s talk about it!