Screen Time

My kids get a lot of screen time- between video games on the phone, Netflix on TV and Youtube, they watch a good bit more than the 2 maximum hours recommended by the American Academy of Pediatricians (Ani would say, if he heard me say this, "well, the Indian Academy doesn't have any recommendations so why are we following Americans in India?").

On holidays, or afternoons when I'm at work and the kids are with the maid at home, their screen time shoots up even more. To be honest, even when I take them to work with me and I leave them in lab to attend a meeting, by the time I'm back, both would have somehow managed to get hold of phones and will be playing video games on them.

In an effort to promote actual conversation around the house, I decreed a no-screen time around dinner. Instead, the kids and I sit around in a circle with our food and I'm supposed to tell them stories. The best stories eliciting the biggest laughs are those from my own past. I dig through my memories and tell them stories of when we used to be a joint family at the ancestral home. Five families lived under one roof for a few years- the stories I recall are from the time I was probably around 4 till about 7. Five families, my grandmom, her elder sister, and 4 cousins growing up bickering and fighting and laughing.  A total of 16 humans. Imagine the amount of cooking and washing! And this was before washing machines!

But all this humanity living under one roof made some pretty hilarious stories. In addition to the humans were also animals! This was during the time when there were enough trees on that street that there used to be monkeys. So antics of monkeys competed with the antics of humans.

So anyway, all this forced conversation- time is making me recall stories that had long been buried within my memory... weirdly enough, most of my stories from that time revolve around a couple of cousin brothers I don't really communicate much with these days. Now I wonder why I don't. So maybe I should reach out and try to make a connection again.

Despite all the scoldings and yellings that I subject my kids to, I must thank God for them- they make me do unexpected, but very valuable and fun things.