Family Matters

Summer Complacency

I am the mother of three beautiful children.  Various ages of course, elementary school to college.  Wow.  I look back 18 years, I remember I made homemade baby food and my oldest never had fast food or sugar until she was 2 years old.  It was about the same for my second child, but then the third child came along and all of this went out the window.  I use to dip Sam’s pacifier in my Diet Coke to rinse it off when it fell on the floor.  Complacency.  Then you throw in the long days of summer and we have SUMMER COMPLACENCY.  

Where have you become complacent in your own parenting?

·       What TV programs are your children watching?

·       How much time is spent on their electronics (TV, video games, smart phones)?

·       How much outside play they are missing out on?

·       How often are they reading & using their imaginations?

·       Are they eating out of boredom?

"For the shepherds have become stupid

And have not sought the LORD;

Therefore they have not prospered,

 

And all their flock is scattered.”

Jeremiah 10:21

CHALLENGE: Where have you become blind or unaware to the potential dangers concerning your children? 

In my kitchen, I posted a BORED check list:

Have you…..

B- Been creative?
O- Outside play?
R- Read a book?
E- Exercised 20 minutes?
D- Done something helpful?

 

Here are some studies about damage caused from electronics:

Gray Matters: Too Much Screen Time Damages the Brain

Neuroimaging research shows excessive screen time damages the brain.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mental-wealth/201402/gray-matters-too-much-screen-time-damages-the-brain

Teen Studies Screen Time’s Effects on Young Minds

The brain’s prefrontal cortex isn’t fully formed until age 25, and environmental influences play a large part in its development.
https://cogito.cty.jhu.edu/38611/south-dakota-teen-studies-screen-times-effects-on-young-minds/
The subjects reported getting an average of four to eight hours of screen time per day, while in some extreme cases, subjects reported getting 15 hours of screen time in a single day. Across the board, the subjects with the highest amounts of screen time also reported getting less sleep and experiencing more stress.