🥴Power struggles over screen time with your ADHD kiddo? Try this! As always, tweak it to work for your family, this is just a starting place 😉
🫠So often we focus on how to “get” or “make” kids do all their “NEED” to do things before they do their “want” to do things.
🤔But honestly? This is such a hard way to do things!
👀Some people CAN power through a whole long list of needs before their wants, but many people burn out, lose focus, lose momentum, procrastinate the needs as long as possible because they’re overwhelmed or don’t know how to start, etc. This is especially true for folks with ADHD or other types of neurodivergence (but many neurotypical people also experience this!).
😉Ask yourself- the last time you had a long list of need-to-do tasks you really didn’t want to do, how did you get through it? Did you start with a yummy snack? Promise yourself a Starbucks run after it was done? Put on a fluffy Netflix show in the background, listen to a spicy book on your airpods?
🤯If you did anything like the above, you did @vicesfitness trick of pairing a want with a need (or in more technical educational/psychology speak, you paired a less desirable task with a more preferable one). This is a really common scaffold to help people (especially those who are neurodivergent) tackle needs that are hard to start or hard to engage with.
🔥So instead of fighting over kids finishing homework BEFORE playing video games or watching TV, try pairing them or alternating them. Do 20 mins of reading, watch a Bluey, make your bed and start a load of laundry, play a round of mario kart, do 15 minutes of math, play another round, etc.
🧠Will this work for everyone? NO! It won’t. And that’s ok. We want kids to learn what works for them, their brains, and their style. Sometimes they will be able to do this and some types of projects will be too involved.
👾Certain types of screen time are easier for this, like short shows or leveled or time-based games with clear start/stop points. This would be a much harder strategy to do with an open-ended game like Minecraft.
💪Like all strategies, it’s about finding what works for your WHOLE family.
