Believe it or not, you can deal with screen time meltdowns in a way that will not make you pull your hair out. When a child is having a really hard time at the end of screen time, that often means that they were regulated while having screen time, but didn’t realize it. This makes sense; they’re distracted and engaged, their body is still, and we are often doing other things. It’s a recipe that can easily lead to huge explosions of feelings that come out of seemingly nowhere.
But while getting rid of the screen may remove the trigger of these these behaviors, it won’t help addressed the underlying cause, which is dysregulation and knowing how to spot it. This is a skill be when our kids to have in so many parts of their lives. A better way to teach it then making it a game?
I made this simple graphic in Canva, but you could write it on a whiteboard on a piece of paper or even call out commands in the moment. You could use a dye, roll a ball with different colored sides, or write some strategies on cards and choose one at random from a deck.
Will these work magically every time? No. But that’s part of the process! We want our kids to figure out what works for them and what doesn’t and experimentation is a big part of that.
Does that mean we should put up and tolerate? No! We still get to decide what kind of behaviors result in pausing or ending straight time to work on regulating. And, when our kids get good at these strategies, they will be able to employ them in screen time, sports, heated conversations, and maybe their future workplace. Still transfer is key, and keeping a playful helps us avoid shame.
