Here’s How I Am Raising a Gadget-Free Child!

I am so glad to say that I am raising a gadget-free child! It feels wonderful to be a parent. There are times when I feel overwhelmed by the responsibilities of the family and now a tiny, delicate small human. I have to agree that it takes a lot of patience to bring up a child. But every bit of it is worth it! From teaching them their very first word to listening to their infinite questions, I feel so good when my child calls me “Mumma”. My heart melts when he smiles at me. Growing a child in the age of social media and the abundance of games on the smartphone is hard. My husband and I as parents make it a point to not give gadgets to our child to keep him busy. And yes, he is growing well without the gadgets! Children are great imitators and fast learners, so as a parent if we are doing something that our children are not allowed, how can we expect them to not learn from what they watch their parents did! My husband and I have a strict “No gadgets around children” policy. We have not introduced our boy to the modern, gadget addictive method of learning through YouTube for rhymes and stories.

We have not digitalized our child by giving him smartphones, tablets, laptops to learn from – which is an online source, that will eventually make him addicted and unstoppable at a certain point. Most kids tend to find reading and writing difficult as they are exposed to learning through videos at an early age.

A lot of our friends ask us how do we do this and well, it’s very simple! We read him stories and rhymes from actual books and intimated the same, with expressions and body gestures. We believe that it was more fun that way. We do not have gaming apps on our phones to keep us hooked to the screen. We believe in spending quality time with our son. We love playing indoor games too, my son enjoys building blocks, colouring, jigsaw puzzles, dancing. He keeps me company when I am preparing a meal, he has learned many spices names and loves their aroma. We love going to our society park and watching different birds, the colourful flowers. Let children step out and have a sense of feel, touch and explore the world.

Here’s How You Can Make Your Home a Gadget-Free Zone

• Limit your access to smartphones, laptops and reduce TV hours.
• Do not make gadgets accessible for them.
• Indulge them in activity-based learning. Physical activities help the child to de-stress in a healthy manner.
• Engage them in pretend play, kids tend to enjoy and it becomes a fun learning.
• Talk to them, let them share their wishes, future plans, read them a bedtime story.
• Mealtime means family bonding time, so keep TV remotes at bay.

We are not raising a genius child, we are just making things easy for him so that he enjoys every moment of his childhood, after all its only one childhood.

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