Kids I have 4 kids between first grade and crawling baby. 2 kids are in preschool for 1/2 day. We do not have a TV in the house. The point to raise smart, athletic kids.

Screen Inventory We have 2 iPhones, 2 iPad minis, a mobile TV monitor (in the closet), and a tesla (has a backseat screen) and my 7 yo has a Chromebook. Our kids start with one hour of earned screen time per week, subject to behavior and chores.

Weekly cadence Each week our kids can earn a movie night. Usually Saturday or Sunday. If mom or dad watch the movie it’s a full movie (Shrek, Moana, Pets, etc). If just kids it’s usually 3x 20 minute shows. We make it fun: blankets on the couch, stuffies, popcorn 🍿

What to watch? Alll shows must be approved. Nothing woke and no slop. There must be a plot, no violence, and some humor. Nature shows, documentaries, and educational kids shows are encouraged.

Banned list Most kids shows are dumb or inappropriate: K pop demon hunters, paw patrol, fairy pixie dust slop shows, YouTube style shows, toddler nonsense shows like Teletubbies. Careful with scary or intense scenes, we don’t want nightmares! @Cernovich

OK list Anything age appropriate that is educational or funny. Peppa Pig, classic movies, remakes of classics, octonaughts, creature cases. Honestly the kids don’t care because TV is so rare for them. My 2 yo likes commercials!

Travel Days Anything goes. We do this for all of you when we fly. The kids can watch TV on the airplane or their iPad minis last about 2.5-3 hrs.

Sports We don’t really watch sports, but if the Jaguars or Gators are playing at grandpas house the kids can watch it for a bit. The kids get bored quick with sports tho.

Learning games My first grader has been known to convince me that she needs to practice math on her computer. Math Tango and spelling games are fine on a rainy day. I have parental controls on so she can’t download any new apps.

Beware! 80% of kids grooming originates in online game chat rooms. Simple rule: NO GAMES WITH CHAT ROOMS. Also no games where you have to pay for upgrades.

iPads at dinner Never not never, ever. If your kid needs an iPad in the stroller or at dinner or any other place, take a long look in the mirror, a cold shower, and try again.

Common sense Our kids are mini hurricanes. High energy and they get each other excited. If we NEED them to be calm, like mom has to go to DMV or bank with the kids, an exception will be made and a show may be played on a phone. This is a rare practice.

Physical fitness My kids get an average of two play sessions per day. Bikes, park, walks, scooters, dancing, surfing, beach, etc. the parents are active and the kids are active. Each of my kids are physical specimens… because they play hard every day.

Watch dad, not TV I have a home improvement project almost every weekend. My kids are always encouraged to help and watch. Boys hold the tools, my daughter might offer to clean up.

Read books My kids get an average of 4 books read to them per day and it’s common to see them on the couch reading to themselves (even tho they can’t read). They love the Bible and anything with animals or tractors. They probably have 800 books and we use the library.

Post TV come down We always notice terrible behavior after TV. You can see the change it has in their brain. We communicate clearly: “last show”, “5 minutes left”, “pause it, have a snack, then you can finish”. Still, it ruins their brains.

TL/DR; Raising kids without TV and with very limited screen time is harder. But we choose to do it anyways. The result is happy, healthy, fit kids. Our kids do great in school too.

Bonus story My 7yo has already started asking about having a phone. I kid you not, 7 year olds have phones now. Luckily @RonDeSantis and @CaseyDeSantis did us a solid and banned phones from school, so my daughter doesn’t see it, she just hears about it.