Those who know me well, know that I am real. I don't sugar coat things. I share my blessings as well as my mess-ups. Technology has sometimes been a mess-up for me. Here is the deal, my 6 year old son has A LOT of energy! He is driven by a motor. That motor doesn't turn off until well past the time we turn the key off to put him in bed. He never even sits at an idle. There are times in life, that as a parent, I really want him to just be idle for a moment. That is what technology has helped us with. If I let him play a game on the computer or watch a movie on the ipad, he will sit for a bit. However, we all know that tech time isn't great for children (or adults). As an elementary teacher, I have researched technology and children's brains. I know that I don't want to be the parent who lets their kid sit on technology all the time. I know that I want to create memories and lessons with my kids, far beyond what the ipad could ever provide. So, several months ago (probably about 6) we eliminated technology. No more tablets, no more youtube...no more! I'm not going to lie, it was super tough at first, but we pushed through. We did lots of things together. We played games, did crafts, cooked, etc. We saw a noticeable difference in his behavior. And then, something changed. Something called Covid-19. Something that flipped our world (and everyone's) upside down. As I mentioned before, I am an elementary teacher. I teach 8 year olds. I teach whole group. I teach small group. I teach one on one. I have never taught online before. Until now. All of a sudden, I had to be in multiple zoom meetings, find activities for my students that met our standards, call parents, answer emails, and so much more. I had to do something for my son to be entertained without me, and I didn't have long to prepare what this could look like. So, along came the tablet again. The rule was, he couldn't be on it during our family time, but if I was working he could. Well, I worked 8 hours on many days. It is not ok for my 6 year old to sit on a tablet for 8 hours. I would try to tell him to put it away, but I was working and not noticing that he had in fact just gone in the other room with it. So, I needed to find the middle ground. I needed him to have it at certain times when I was most busy, but I needed to do something else for the other times. This is when I fell in love with a new device (seem ironic?)! I fell in love with Circle. This little device changed everything. It hooks into my wi-fi and I can manage any device on my network. Many of the devices I left unmanaged, for example, my work computer. However, I was able to now manage the kids' devices. I could set a time limit (I set it for 2 hours a day while I was working, but now that it is summer we do 1 hour per day). I can pause the internet on those devices. Thats right, pause the internet. Think about this for a second. Imagine this scenario....
Me: "Kids, will you come pick up your mess on the table?".......
Kids: Nothing
Me: "Kids, will you come pick up your mess on the table?".......
Kids: Nothing
Me: "Kids, will you come pick up your mess on the table?".......
Have you had this happen in your house? Oh, you and I both know the answer! I now can just simply pause the internet, and guess what?!? They quickly come pick up their mess! It is magical! You can also manage what apps or sites your children are accessing. The Circle device is a must-have for families! I did have a few questions as I was setting it all up, but the Circle Team helped me through all of them. I will give you one warning though...if your kids figure out how you are doing it, they will unplug your Circle. I quickly explained that if our Circle got unplugged one more time, the tablet would be gone, for good...and it hasn't been unplugged since! One of my favorite features of the device is that it can also be used as an incentive. I can add to the allowed time for the day if they complete their chores, etc. We both know that every home with children are struggling with this technology balance, especially in today's world with Covid. Do yourself (and your child) a favor, and get Circle! To learn more, check out their website at www.meetcircle.com
