Chasing the Boogeyman

There is another boogeyman in the house. He has been identified and chased out! There have been several since John and I became parents. One particularly scary boogeyman was "Homeschooled kids won't have social skills." Since beginning to homeschool, my kids are happier, friendlier, and have better friendships than ever. They are friendlier to people of all ages, and don't hesitate to befriend someone outside their "age group." So we threw that boogeyman out as soon as we found him.

A boogeyman we've lived with for a long time is the "screen time" boogeyman. If you let children play on computers or watch TV too much, something bad will happen. They'll turn into zombies, they won't talk to their parents or each other. They won't develop their social skills, and they'll never get into college!



Denver enjoys building things on Minecraft.

We now have two televisions, two computers, a Wii, and two Kindles in the house; and guess what? The boys are as loud, curious, happy, and talkative as ever! In fact, as I write this, Denver is asking me constant questions about what different animals eat (in order to feed his minecraft animals) and how many stripes the American flag has (because he is creating a flag to fly over his minecraft castle).

The boys still like to go outside. They still like to be active. They love being with friends. They do their homeschool. They still like to read and be read to!

Much to my surprise, the boys seem perfectly capable of identifying when they are ready for a break from a game; and they take that break without being told. Could it be that they have learned to recognize their needs instead of being told what their needs are?

Until just last year, we had a "screen time" daily limit. I see no need for it anymore. Sure, the boys love to spend time discovering new games and activities on our computers and Kindles. So do I! They also enjoy curling up in the living room for a movie with me in the evening. But the parental fears about "too much" screen time have not come to pass.

They love to talk to each other about the games they are playing. They like for me to watch, and they like to explain everything to me. I've found that even "non-educational" games invite a lot of learning.



We are delighted to cast out another boogeyman from the closet of parental fears. And just in time for Halloween, too!