It is day 9 of 10 days of self care and you best believe I won’t be stopping here! I won’t be blogging about it every day but it feels like I’ve really started shifting perspective about intentional self care and self compassion.
Today I wanted to share something that I feel is a big divided topic these days – screen time as self care. As a pediatric occupational therapist, especially one that works in nature, I get the concern a lot from parents about screens. There are so many uses for them in school and learning but media also almost shames parents for using them and scares us into thinking we’re poisoning our children!
Now let’s get some things clear first – if you are a parent in this day and age, it is SO IMPORTANT that you have some screen safety chats with your kids and if they’re too young or don’t understand, that you’re really monitoring them. I’ve heard lots of horror stories about heading down the wrong direction of YouTube and many of my clients watch some pretty messed up stuff because they’re left to their own choices of screen use. Unfortunately, blocking certain channels is pretty tough as content is hidden or cleverly uploaded to YouTube to draw in kids around those restrictions. Take some time to also learn about the dangers of social media so that you can have some of those conversations with your children.
Another key disclaimer for me is do not replace your value as a teacher as well as a valuable play partner to your children with a tablet. Using screen time as a tool to keep your kids busy while making dinner is one thing but leaving them with their devices and not playing with them or reading to them can really cause them to miss out on great experiences and learning opportunities! From an occupational therapy perspective, stepping away from the tablet also allows your children to explore sensory experiences, social connections, fine and gross motor skills, imaginative play and so much more!
So that being said, I wanted to share the shut off and dissociation that can be beneficial to humans from screen time. LIMITED screen time. Today was a great example. I not only drove in wild traffic this morning and worked an 8 hour day in the pouring rain with my kids, but I also then drove PAST my home to have another private client after work. One piece of my self care came in the car when I parked at my house and realized that I was so exhausted that if I went inside I wouldn’t finish my documentation for my private client. I like finishing my private clients completely on the day of because I know my full time job takes up most of my time during the week and I’ll lose track of the clients outside of it. So I chose to chart in the car before going in which was brilliant since I indeed crashed when I got inside.
I then recognized my need for a bit of mindless screen time to reset and allow me to escape for a bit. I didn’t have the energy to craft or go to the gym or stretch, I didn’t even have the energy to read or eat at first! So I let myself scroll tik tok for a bit before I felt my brain zone out and then put down the phone. I find that sometimes after a long day it really is needed to just let myself unmask and relax on social media. Now I think it’s important to recognize that this is not an active use of my time, which means I’m not getting anything positive from this other than resting my brain. There is no sensory input (that I added myself with textured blankets and stuffies and snacks) and my body and brain really aren’t benefiting at all – this is why I think LIMITED screen time can be relaxing and help unwind after a long day at work or school or camp. But it shouldn’t be an all evening thing !
I was able to transition to reading my book for a while before getting ready for bed with my cat 🩷
Ideas for tomorrow
Day 10 and I get to spend the evening with my sister which I’m so excited for! She lives around 2 hours away and has been travelling for the last couple weeks so I’m excited to see her! I’ve already packed my bags to see her and lunches are made for the remainder of the week so I’m excited to just hang out and hear about her trip 🙂
Be Your Own Sunshine 