Mother shares her unique approach to reducing kids' screen time and it's ingenious

One big problem that people face today is increased screen time. Most people's work involves sitting in front of a screen for extended periods. Adults fare slightly better than children when it comes to handling their screen time, as they know when it is taking a toll on their well-being. Kids, however, can get easily addicted and spend unhealthy amounts of time in front of screens, which can really affect their overall growth. It can be difficult for parents to find activities that don't involve a screen to keep their kids engaged. Jayme Yannuzzi (@teachtalkinspire), a former teacher and mother, shared a helpful post revealing her "secret weapon" to reduce her kids' screen time.

The post has got 2,924 likes since it has been shared on the platform. In the image posted, we get to see her kids sitting and listening to a podcast being played on the TV. The text overlay reads, "My secret weapon when we need to cut down on screen time is to play podcasts from my TV."

She elaborates in more detail in the caption about how podcasts were a very good alternative for kids to consume content that did not involve a screen. She writes, "Not only are they enjoyable to listen to, cultivate listening skills, and help with reading comprehension, but they also are a wonderful alternative to screen time." Yannuzzi clarifies that parents should not feel guilty about utilizing screens for their kids when they feel the need. The woman also adds how a "reset" was necessary at times and podcasts were her family's approach to the problem of long screen times.

The mother writes, "I play our favorites like Pinkalicious, Arthur, or Molly of Denali on the PBS Kids app and pair it with a calm activity to help us reset." Other parents on the platform appreciated the woman's advice and shared their thoughts about it in the comments section. @sofetchrach shared, "We listen to these in the car sometimes too! We do Peppa stories on Spotify!" @l4u123 said, "We only turn on the TV to play music or podcasts through Spotify on our Roku and do not watch any TV shows during the day. It's helped so much!"

In fact, it almost seems like modern-day parents get overwhelmed by this need to keep their children entertained all the time when it's actually not necessary to do so. A mom named Jennifer B, who goes by @8thdayformomonly on Instagram, shared a clip highlighting how parents had unrealistic expectations of themselves. Her post caption reads, "Do you remember your parents doing activities with you as often as you do activities with your kids? I feel like a lot of this is the expectation placed upon us by ourselves, society, and everyone else's highlight reels on social media. I don't recall my parents doing the same thing."

The mom shares how she spent a weekend with her three kids and made quite the effort to keep them engaged throughout, which was exhausting for her. She recalls how her own mother did not go out of her way to keep her entertained. The woman points out how many parents are burdening themselves to entertain their kids so that they do not have excessive screen time. Instead, she advocates that parents give kids "space to entertain themselves."