Screen Time & Sanity: Why I’m Not Fighting It

As I click on the next episode of Spiderman for Squidge, now feels like a good time to talk about screen time… and how we actually handle it here at Pudding & Squidge Towers.

Let me start with this: I am not an expert.

I’m a realist. A mum of three. A business owner. And yes... screens absolutely play their part.

I like to think of it as strategic screen time.

Because parenting isn’t about perfection... it’s about balance.

Pudding and Squidge both have tablets (Amazon Fire Kids...mainly for the timers 🙌). They have daily limits, and Pudding has to use learning apps first… otherwise it’s endless episodes of Monster High.

Squidge? Racing games and anything Lightning McQueen. Somehow that includes spelling games too, so we’ll take that win.

Our TV gets used. A lot.

Nap time = TV time.

I’d love to say it’s always CBeebies… but it’s often Hot Wheels or Blippi.

Pudding prefers films (Wicked is currently on repeat, which I fully support).

Also Bing is banned.
I cannot deal with that whiny bunny. And Flop? Suspiciously calm.

You know when Netflix asks “are you still watching?” and you feel personally attacked?

That’s usually when we switch off.

And I hit them with:

“Shall we play a mummy game?”

“Mummy games” = our go-to simple activities.

• Things we’ve made
• Freebie Friday games
• Activities from the TeachEm Box

And the key?

They are quick and easy.

So when I say yes, it doesn’t feel like a big effort. It’s just an easy switch away from screens.

My screen time journey started with Pudding… who was a Covid baby.

No playgroups. No classes. Just one walk a day and a lot of CBeebies.

Then came Squidge, and I found myself with a newborn thinking:

“What do I do with this other child?”

Answer?

Turn the TV on.

We watched Encanto three times in one day. It happened.

But I also used simple play....my “magic box of games” (now named the TeachEm Box) to break things up when I could.

I’m a huge advocate for play-based learning.

But I’m also a huge advocate for parents not losing their minds.

If you need the TV on while you:

• empty the bins
• answer emails
• drink a hot cup of tea

Do it.

No guilt. No judgement.

Screens aren’t the enemy.

But they shouldn’t be the only option.

The real challenge isn’t turning them off it’s knowing what to do next.

You don’t need complicated setups.

You just need something easy enough to say yes to.

That’s why everything we create is:
✔️ quick
✔️ simple
✔️ realistic

Because that’s what actually works.