But I hear from my patient families all the time that it's anything but relaxing.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends doctors ask parents three questions about mealtime:

1. How anxious are you about your child’s eating?

2. How would you describe what happens during mealtime?

3. What do you do when your child won’t eat?

When offered a healthy, well balanced meal with fresh fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins, kids will stop eating when they are full. Children will naturally refuse to eat when they are not hungry. We often describe these as normal appetite slumps. We can disturb children’s natural satiety cues by either forcing them to eat or by offering foods high in added sugar or salt when they won’t eat. This results in a child who will “only eat chicken nuggets.”

Parents are most successful in feeding their children more fruits and vegetables when they model healthy eating, set appropriate limits, and have a positive attitude at mealtime. “The parent determines where, when, and what the child is fed; the child determines what to eat.” ⁽¹⁾ In other words, “parents provide and kids decide”. ⁽²⁾ 

Here are some tips on eating mindfully and encouraging your kids to eat in a manner that gives them more energy and helps them avoid chronic disease. These are easy ways to change your lifestyle that don’t involve a ton of work and expensive supplements.

1.Drink more water. Kids should not drink juice or soda except on special occasions.

2.Drink milk with meals. Children from age 1-2 should be on whole milk. After the age of 2, low fat or skim milk is recommended.

3.Vitamin supplements are not needed unless your child does not drink milk. Vitamin D is essential for bone health and immune function and may play a role in prevention of chronic disease.

4.Serve 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Encourage your children to at least take a bite of everything you serve. Remember that children will need to taste a food 10-15 times before they decide they like it. Lean protein like fish and baked chicken might be better accepted if you add ketchup as a condiment.

5.Add healthy protein likes nuts (for older children) and legumes. Peanut butter is fine for younger children and new allergy immunology guidelines suggest that early introduction of peanut may actually decrease the risk of peanut allergy.

6.Eat more meals at home. Keep staples such as eggs, whole grain pasta, pasta sauce, yogurt, carrots, frozen vegetables, chicken breasts, and fruit stocked at all times so that in a pinch you could throw together a simple meal.

7.Double your recipes and freeze 1 meal at the same time that you cook the other meal. This will save you from making a trip to a fast food restaurant when you have that go to meal in your freezer.

8.Serve only whole grain breads and pastas.

9.Avoid buying, eating, or serving processed foods (chips, cookies, cakes).

10.Avoid fried foods and fast foods.

To read more about nutrition needs of children at different ages, I highly recommend the book “Nutrition: What Every Parent Needs to Know" available on the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) online bookstore.

See choosemyplate.gov for more information about how your child’s plate should look at meal time.

Realize that children’s tastes will change over time. They will sometimes refuse foods they readily accepted in the past, and they will readily accept foods that they refused in the past. Involve your children in shopping and meal planning. Let them help in the kitchen! Take them to a local farmer’s market and let them choose something new for everyone to try.

Take a matter of fact and pleasant approach to meal times and ENJOY YOUR FAMILY! Create wonderful childhood memories.

References:

1. “A Practical Approach to Classifying and Managing Feeding Difficulties” Pediatrics Volume 135, number 2, February 2015

2.Nutrition: What Every Parent Needs to Know. AAP

“They often times ask me if they should give their child a vitamin,” Dr. Mangham said. “Generally speaking, kids do not need to take a multivitamin or any supplements, for that matter.”

What is better than a multivitamin a day?

1. A good night’s sleep - every night.
2. A healthy, well-balanced diet.
3. Exercise and outside time
4. Good hand washing before meal time.

Dr. Mangham said going back to the basics with the above recommendations will boost your child’s immune system much more than any supplement could.

Recently, the New York Attorney General’s office cracked down on many major retailers, saying the herbal supplements they were selling didn’t live up to the promises on the label.

Joel Steelman, M.D., an endocrinologist at Cook Children’s said the quality testing program that stores such as GNC plan to put in place is a positive start, a lot of the herbal supplements have little hard science to really back up effectiveness.

“In my opinion, herbal supplements don’t really have a place for use in children,” Dr. Steelman said. “I’ve done research in the past on behalf of families asking about alternative treatments to use along with their child’s diabetes care. Most of the research is very weak. I suspect that very weak describes most data on use in children, and there’s a variety of medical case reports on negative effects of supplements on children.”

Jessica Holy, a Cook Children’s dietitian in Neurology, is frequently asked what vitamins and/or supplements are worth taking. She said that answer differs for parents and their children.

“Most of us have heard that if we tend to eat a variety of foods, then we don’t need a vitamin/mineral supplement. There is truth in that,” Holy said. “If you usually eat several servings of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, calcium-rich dairy and quality protein sources daily, then you are likely meeting your need for most vitamin and minerals. But how many of us have diets like that? Even though I’m a dietitian, I freely admit that I do not have a perfect diet. The busy pace that most of us keep makes it difficult to plan healthy meals for ourselves and our family. We often find ourselves turning to grab-and-go options at the grocery store or fast food. If this resembles you, then taking a regular, adult multivitamin daily may be a good idea.”

In children, a multivitamin might be needed during times of fluctuating appetite and food jags (only eating a few specific foods). For instance, children who aren’t getting enough iron in their diet may need to take an iron supplement for a period of time, until they begin eating more protein.

For the most part, children are able to get their needed vitamins through what they eat. Infants get their necessary vitamins through breastmilk (including routinely fortified with supplemental vitamin D) and/or formula intake and toddler and school-aged children are often able to achieve their need for calcium and vitamin D by drinking milk.

But beware excessive milk intake (greater than 24 ounces daily).

“Milk has some good nutrients, but it is lacking in iron,” Holy said. “Children who drink large quantities of milk are not often hungry for regular meals that provide iron-rich foods.”

If your child is allergic to milk, talk to your pediatrician for alternatives.

Don't panic!

Kim Mangham, a Cook Children's pediatrician in Keller, said to get your kids outside even in the winter.

Spending time outdoors is a critical part of kids' fun, but it might also help promote a healthy and happy childhood.

The National Wildlife Federation points out that the decline in the average time kids spend outdoors correlated with escalating childhood obesity rates and Johns Hopkins researchers estimate that 1 in 10 U.S. children have a vitamin D deficiency, a vitamin they would naturally get from sun exposure. 

Numerous studies have concluded that Mycobacterium vaccae, a bacteria found in dirt, can help improve mood and brain function. 

There's also a reason mud makes your child so happy. Kids who play outside have higher levels of serotonin, a chemical in the brain linked to good moods and reduced stress.

"Getting dirty is an important part of being a kid," Dr. Mangham said. "The things that don't seem like a big deal to adults are wonderful and fascinating to children. Letting them draw patterns in the dust, shaping mudpies and making a mess can be a magical part of growing up."

About the author

Kim Mangham, M.D., is a Cook Children's pediatrician at 1601 Keller Parkway in Keller, Texas. She earned her medical degree at University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. She completed the pediatric residency program at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. Her interests include breastfeeding education as well as disease and injury prevention. Dr. Mangham is board certified in pediatrics.

After all since its release on July 6, Pokémon Go has become a sensation. It’s already on more than 51 percent of all Android phones in the United States, as well as the top free app and top grossing app in the U.S. on the iPhone App store. Oh and parents, users are spending an average of 43 minutes a day playing the game.

So what the heck is all this about?

Pokémon Go is an “augmented-reality game” that allows players to hunt for digital Pokémon on their smartphones. The creators of the game use GPS and an algorithm where players find and capture Pokémon characters at various locations.

So kids are outside exploring looking for the characters. That beats staying on the couch. But there’s also concern that comes with the exploratory nature of the game.

Kim Mangham, M.D., a Cook Children’s pediatrician in Keller, says this game makes it difficult for kids to be aware of their surroundings.

“We know there are benefits to exercise and being in nature,” said Kim Mangham, M.D., a Cook Children’s pediatrician. “I like that kids are getting outside with this game, but kids are at risk because they are looking at their phones and not paying attention to their surroundings. They could trip or fall on a curb, branch or sidewalk. I worry about kids looking at the game near traffic or grownups or teens looking at the game while driving or riding on a bike.”

And then there’s that GPS aspect of the game that is a concern.

In Missouri, the O’Fallon Police Department sent out an alert of multiple armed robberies in the area. The suspects, who were caught, targeted their victims through Pokémon Go. The police believe the robbers used the app to locate people standing around in the middle of a parking lot or other secluded areas.

The Pokémon Company International and Niantic, the app’s makers, released a joint statement:

"We encourage all people playing Pokémon GO to be aware of their surroundings and to play with friends when going to new or unfamiliar places. Please remember to be safe and alert at all times."

Justin Smith, M.D., Cook Children’s medical advisor of digital health, says parents should talk to their kids about playing Pokémon Go and offers these helpful tips:

1. Talk to your kids about stranger-danger and set limits on where your kids can go. Keep them in your neighborhood and walk with your younger children.
2. Don’t play the game while riding your bike, hoverboard or skateboard. Make sure your older teens know they shouldn’t play and drive.
3. Play with friends only.
4. Don’t go into stranger’s yards or homes while trying to catch a Pokémon.
5. Look up while playing the game. Watch where you are going.

“This is a game that seemingly everyone is playing right now. It would be great if parents participate with their own kids if they are going to allow them to play Pokémon Go,” Dr. Smith said. “It can be a fun way to get kids out exercising, but they also need to use caution.”

When I advise my 3 year old patients to wear helmets on their tricycles, then I end up with 10 year old patients who wear their helmets. It’s near impossible to convince my 10 year olds to START wearing a helmet.

Why do you think so many ED doctors end up advocating for car seat safety? They see the results of horrible car accidents that could have been prevented.

That’s how I feel about obesity prevention. Far and away, poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle wreak havoc on the mental and physical health of my patients – from young to old – those with poor lifestyle choices have a decreased quality of life. They come to see me with more illnesses, more headaches and most certainly more abdominal pain.

When I start talking to my families about diet, I try to give anticipatory guidance about offering fruits and vegetables and limiting processed foods. Toddlers and young children do two things really well – they don’t eat when they are not hungry and they stop eating when they are full.

We as parents, and grandparents, mess up their satiety cues by trying to get them to eat when they are not hungry and trying to get them to keep eating when they are full. Allowing children to control the amount of food they eat leads to a long term healthy relationship with food. Parents have control over what is offered but should not try to control how much is eaten.

Along those same lines, children are naturally conditioned to be outside and to be active. We as parents mess that up by keeping them inside in front of an iPad or video game. We have control over their media time.

I think focusing on healthy behaviors rather than BMI is a positive way to talk to parents. Most parents are doing 1 or more things right in the 5-2-1-0 recommendations. Kids are motivated to follow these recommendations, but they need their parents to create an environment at home that allows them to do so. This goes along with the thinking of the Blue Zones.

I do think there is value for using BMI as a tool. I usually show growth charts to families as an objective measurement of what is happening and then we turn to talking about healthy behaviors. But I do see a flattening of BMI with improved diet/activity choices. It is also not uncommon for me to see an increase in BMI and ask what has changed, and families are usually able to say – oh yeah, he quit playing soccer, or he doesn’t have PE this year….etc.

When you look at guidelines for treatment of obesity, the first thing you must have is motivation for change. If that is not there, you really can’t go forward. What if we don’t have to motivate people to change because they have been feeding their children correctly from the beginning?

At least not yet, but both school districts are considering adopting a policy and Dallas ISD could have one by the end of the day.

That news makes Kim Mangham, M.D., a Cook Children’s pediatrician in Keller, both relieved and happy. Dr. Mangham focuses on nutrition and activity with her patient families and she believes this is a good start for area schools to get kids moving.

As early as January 2007, A Clinical Report in the Journal of Pediatrics emphasized the benefits of free play for children, “but since that time it seems we have drifted farther and farther away from this concept,” Dr. Mangham said. “Kindergarten and even preschool curriculums are emphasizing academics over social and emotional development, and kids are presenting at younger ages with anxiety and depression due to academic pressures.”

For all children, especially those with ADHD, Dr. Mangham said it is vital that they are offered unstructured free time to allow them to process the information they have learned and to get their exercise. Only then can they return to the classroom and focus.

Children have an innate need to be outside and run and play, according to Dr. Mangham. This helps them to connect socially with their peers and allows them to settle back down in the classroom and learn again.

“I hear from so many of my parents that their children do so much better with homework if they are allowed to play outside after school,” Dr. Mangham said. “Kids are so worn out by the end of the day, they need to decompress and let their brains rest before they can focus again on school work. I tell my parents that if they want well behaved children, to let them run and play outside and to burn off all of their energy. “

Why not focus on the things that are free from side effects and cost nothing? We have so much to gain, says Dr. Mangham.

Children have so much adult-directed time – in the classroom, with sports, with extracurricular activities and with chores in the home. Adults even try to interfere with free play. Children need that free time to learn to share, play nicely, make up games, follow rules, get along and just enjoy friends.

As reported in December 2015 by KERA news and a recent segment on the Today show, schools are starting to see the benefits of recess.

Cook Children’s offers Go Noodle to 18 ISDs (including public, private and charter elementary schools in Cook Children’s six-county region) and 515 schools. The 120,619 students and 4,918 teachers have logged over 35 million aggregate minutes of physical activity.

“My 12 year old daughter started sixth grade this year,” Dr. Mangham said. “Her biggest complaint is not being able to be outside all day. Their only break is the four minute transition time between classes and lunch. “She says, ‘I miss being outside and seeing the sky and the trees.’ My 8 year old son loves climbing trees. The reflection and relaxation he gets while sitting in the top of his tree is just as important as the exercise he gets while climbing.”

About the source

Kim Mangham, M.D., is a Cook Children's pediatrician at 1601 Keller Parkway in Keller, Texas. She earned her medical degree at University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. She completed the pediatric residency program at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. Her interests include breastfeeding education as well as disease and injury prevention. Dr. Mangham is board certified in pediatrics.

Limiting how much Halloween candy your kids eat isn't as tricky as it seems. Stop them from getting too much sugar with these tips:

1. Eat a healthy meal. Kids who fill up before going trick-or-treating or to a Halloween party are less likely to eat too much candy.

2. Remember you're in charge of setting limits. "I let my kids eat a few favorite pieces on Halloween night and then save the rest for later," said Kim Mangham, M.D., a pediatrician with Cook Cook Children's. "After a week of enjoying a few pieces of candy each day, we throw it away or freeze it."

3. Offer healthier treats. Hand out pieces of dark chocolate and small bags of popcorn, or avoid food altogether and give away small toys, pencils, erasers or stickers.

4. Focus on making memories. "Halloween is a fun, magical time," Dr. Mangham said. "Focus on costumes and decorations and play Halloween-themed games and spooky music rather than making it about the candy."

About the author

Kim Mangham, M.D., is a Cook Children's pediatrician at 1601 Keller Parkway in Keller, Texas. She earned her medical degree at University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. She completed the pediatric residency program at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. Her interests include breastfeeding education as well as disease and injury prevention. Dr. Mangham is board certified in pediatrics.

The incidence of anxiety and depression in pediatrics is due in part to overscheduled children and families. Here are some suggestions on how to slow down and find some down time with your family.

1. Gardening: My children’s happiest moments have been picking tomatoes and digging out potatoes in their grandparent’s garden. In describing her experiences in the garden, their grandmother, Jean Mangham writes “I love to get outside to feel the sun, smell the dirt and hear the birds sing. My garden provides me with a place to see the miracle of life. Put a small seed into the dirt and with just a little nurturing, you produce a fruit or a flower. Gardening also provides me with a great sense of pride, and how important that is to pass along to my grandchildren.”
2. Kathleen Wayland, a music teacher, writes, “Relaxation is a learned behavior. A child’s day, even one spent at home, can be very stimulating, offering a little, unstructured quiet time. Having some quiet time with your child provides an opportunity for you to model relaxation for your child and let them know they can relax, even when it’s not naptime or bedtime. This is also a wonderful opportunity for some bonding time to deepen your connection with your child. Holding, rocking, singing and cuddling are all ways to have a quiet, bonding time that will relax both of you. Children need time to be stimulated and engaged, and they also need time to be at leisure. This down time is physically necessary for the brain to process the learning that occurs during structured activities and interaction.”
3. One of my yoga instructors once said, “If you can breathe, you can do yoga.” The practice of yoga and meditation promotes physical and mental wellness. Heidi McGall, a trained yoga instructor teaches kids relaxation: “I have kids close their eyes and imagine a balloon in a big empty blue sky. Imagine anything that is bothering them – schoolwork, family life, things that are nagging them. Imagine tying all those troubles to the balloon. Then they set the balloon free. It floats off into the blue sky out of their vision and they are left with the perfect blue cloudless sky. Then take a big inhale and exhale and open their eyes.”
4. Take your children outside. Being near trees and under a blue sky are inherently relaxing. Go for a walk, take a bike ride, plan a camping trip. Read the book, “Last Child in the Woods” by Richard Louvs. He describes why being in nature is important for children. He lists nature activities for kids and families. Have you and your kids seen the movie The Lorax? You should. It is a thoughtful look at the value of nature in the lives of our children.

And to quote another wise sage, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” – Ferris Bueller.

When author Dan Buettner and fellow staff members looked at areas of the world where people lived longer - they circled it with a blue sharpie on the map - that is how those areas became known as The Blue Zones. Some of the areas with longevity that Dan studied were Sardinia, Italy, Okinawa, Japan, and Loma Linda, California. He learned that the people in these communities didn't choose longevity. Longevity happened to them. Environment is the key to a healthy life, not necessarily personal will power. 

Cook Childrens is a proud sponsor of the Blue Zones Project and Fort Worth is the only city in the south participating. I recently attended the Fort Worth kickoff event for the Blue Zones Project. Dan discussed the common threads that he found in the communities he studied.

Here are some of his suggestions for longevity and a life free from chronic illness:

1. Stay active.

2. Wake up with purpose each day.

3. Find down time daily.

4. Eat mindfully. Eat more fruits and vegetables.

5. Belong. Make time for family, friends, and fellowship.

As a pediatrician, parents come to me with questions about how to care for their children. They depend on my advice to help them raise healthy kids, safe from the burdens of chronic diseases like obesity, hypertension, diabetes and heart disease. Providing a medical home truly is a partnership. It is up to all of us: the parents, the doctors, and the kids. We are a team.

In the upcoming weeks, I will give you tips on how to create a Blue Zone in your home. We can do this together.

For more information about blue zones, see www.bluezones.com and check out the vitality compass.

Ensure school-age children know when to wash - before eating and after playing on a playground at recess, using the restroom, and coming into contact wiht friends and classmates. Teach kids that it's important not to chew their fingernails or touch their faces.

"Hand-to-mouth transmission is a major way children are infected by viruses," said Vanessa Charette, M.D., a Cook Children's pediatrician in Fort Worth. "Keeping hands out of the mouth is a difficult behavior for certain children to master, but it's important that they do."

Little hands can pick up a lot of germs. At any given time, you have close to 150 different bacteria living on your hands, and 80 percent of illnesses are spread by direct human contact. For kids, stomach bugs, strep throat and other bacterial illnesses can spread quickly, particularly in environments such as schools and day cares.

"I also tell young children to keep their hands below their neck. They don't rub their eyes, such their fingers or pick their nose," said Kim Mangham, M.D. a Cook Children's pediatrician in Keller. "Kids can have all the germs in the world living on their hands, but they don't put their hands in their mouth, nose or eyes, they won't get sick."

Having trouble convincing your children to get with the hand hygiene program? Let them know that fighting the spread of germs can be pretty cool. A recent study published in the American Journal of Infection Control concluded that fist bumping transmits far few bacteria than handshaking.

It is so interesting to note that maternal food preferences (what moms eat, why we eat, and how much we eat) strongly influences the eating behavior of our children. Like so many areas of parenting, our kids will do what we do way more readily than they will do what we say.

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, it is a great time to give thanks for our own health and for the health or our children. It is a great time to reflect on the self-care we model for our own children. Studies suggest that toddlers may need to taste a food 10-15 times before they decide it is something they want to eat. Maybe, just maybe, as grown-ups we should try some new foods as well.

Here are some healthy Thanksgiving ideas from Theresa Nash, director of Food and Nutrition Services at Cook Children’s:

1. A sweet potato casserole can be prepared in a healthy manner, and because of their sweetness may be enjoyed by children.

2. Disguising a vegetable in a mixture of children's other well accepted food is a way to get them to later choose them prepared in other ways: ex: broccoli and rice or yellow squash casserole.

3. Try something more unique and unexpected like Brussel sprouts.

As for me, I will work on giving lima beans another 8-10 chances …

After she gave us her tips. Theresa gave us a fun Brussel sprouts’ recipe. She said this is one she loves and she’s still making for her “grown” kids today:

Roasted Brussels Sprouts-Kids “and Parents” will Enjoy

• 1 pound fresh brussels sprouts
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 Tbsp honey
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• Salt & Pepper to taste: optional
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries or golden raisins
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 450 degree F.
2. Cut the ends of the brussels sprouts and cut each in half.
3. Whisk olive oil, honey, garlic, (salt and black pepper) in a bowl. Toss in Brussels sprouts and stir to coat.
4. Spread on a baking sheet and sprinkle with dried fruit and Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Enjoy!

About the author

Kim Mangham, M.D., is a Cook Children's pediatrician at 1601 Keller Parkway in Keller, Texas. She earned her medical degree at University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. She completed the pediatric residency program at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. Her interests include breastfeeding education as well as disease and injury prevention. Dr. Mangham is board certified in pediatrics.

My family and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the state fair. We go every year and get our corn dog and our roasted corn. We see the dog show, and we watch the acrobats. The sights and sounds are the same as they were 20 plus years ago, and I hope to make the same happy memories for my own kids.

How do we enjoy the fair without compromising the healthy lifestyle that we enjoy? Here are some tips from our staff members and from the nutrition department at Cook Children’s.

1. Start your day off with a healthy well balanced meal at home. Do not show up hungry!
2. Bring waters and healthy snacks with you (nuts and dried fruit travel well). This will also help your ticketbook!
3. Allow your child to pick one treat.
4. If he or she (or you) can’t decide – pick a few treats to share – 1 or 2 bites of a fried Oreo^® is probably enough to satisfy even the worst sweet tooth.
5. Pick healthy alternatives to the fried foods: the roasted corn (a must), smoked turkey leg, fruit kabobs, and chicken kabobs.
6. The fairgrounds are huge! Walk a lot. Walk off those calories that you consume!

Special occasions like The State Fair of Texas include traditional foods to be enjoyed together. Remember that there are always healthy alternatives, and that the quality family time is the most important part of these magical moments.

The summer is coming to an end and so is our time blogging about reducing our household media time. To finish up the series, I thought I would interview the kids and ask them what they thought about our summer experiment. The answers are very real and brutally honest. .

What was the best part of our screen free experiment this summer?

Max, age 11.5 years – “Hanging out with my friends at the pool more.”

Morgan, age 10 years – “In Michigan, it was like fun because we weren’t always on the screen and stuff, and we had more things to do with the world.”

Matthew, age 6 years – “Nothing at all.”

What was the worst part of being screen free?

Maxwell – “I couldn’t catch up on all the things I was missing on my games and less time playing with my friends (online).”

Morgan – “When I wanted the electronics because there was literally nothing to do, you wouldn’t let me have them, and that really annoyed me.”

Matthew – “I couldn’t play with anybody (online).”

What can we learn from our screen free summer?

Maxwell – “I learned that I play with my friends more online than I do in real life during the summer, not during the school year, but during the summer.”

Morgan – “Video games aren’t the answer to happiness.There are other things you can do besides electronics.”

Matt – “It (the computer) will make you mad if you watch it too long.”

Would you do this screen free experiment again?

Maxwell  - “No.”

Morgan - “I don’t know, maybe, if we go to Michigan, or a different state.”

Matthew – “Um, no.”

What should our family work on next?

Maxwell – “Playing more sports. That would be so much easier.”

Morgan – “Manners. Our family should work on being nicer to each other (siblings fighting). Being more serious about the screen free thing because we still played it a lot.”

Matthew – “Clean the house.”

The answers made me pause and think that while we actually had some pretty great screen free moments this summer, we still have some work to do (and we need to clean the house).

I am so incredibly grateful to Dr. Mangham and to Cook Children’s for this unusual summer experiment! Although we were not “screen free” and did not manage to “go dark” very often, being asked to write about our efforts really opened my eyes to just how much time we do spend on the screen, how much we depend on it and just how capable we are of living without it. We are a family that is “off” more than we are “on” now, and will continue to strive to use it less and less every day.

Thanks so much everyone!

Previous media free stories:

• 'TV head' - Could you unplug?
• Going media free - part 1
• Breaking it to the crew - part 2
• 'Operation Unplug' - part 3
• We far from nailed it - part 4
• Screen free for 20 days - part 5

About the author

Aubrey Conklin, moved to Texas from Michigan via Chicago almost 10 years ago. She’s been married for 14 years and is the  mom to three kids ages 11,10 and 6. A huge sports fan who not only loves all things Detroit sports but spends her own free time playing soccer, volleyball and softball. Aubrey is a part time preschool teacher as well, a volunteer for her kid's school. 

We took a 20 day trip to Michigan this summer. We took a 20 day trip  and I had agreed to go “screen free” for Cook’s Children’s. Boy, whose awesome idea was that?

So far in our little summer experiment, we had not exactly been “screen free” and I was telling the world via blog, all about our constant failures to eliminate electronics from our lives. I was determined that we were going to get some serious screen free time in while we were in Michigan. By golly, I would have some kind of success with this project and have something inspiring and monumental to report back to everyone who had been taking the time to read our summer blog! No pressure ...

I had Cook Children’s and our little experiment in mind when I packed for the trip. I took the time to buy books, coloring tablets and games for the kids to play on the plane and for ALL the driving we would be doing. But I also packed the electronics. Ok, I packed the electronics and at some points during the trip they were immensely helpful and appreciated and I was glad they were there. Ok, I admit it.

In typical Team Conklin fashion, we were not perfect, but we had some pretty awesome screen free moments. We had a looooooong two-hour drive to a lake cabin. Living in DFW, my kids do not usually have to sit in the car for more than 15 minutes to go anywhere. I was bracing myself for this one and my autopilot self casually offered the kids some electronics for the ride.

From the backseat I heard, “I think I will go scween fwee today” from the 6 year old. Wait, what? What? Little man just up and decided he was going to road trip it without any electronic assistance. I was floored, and skeptical, but that little dude made it two hours no problem.

For some of my sweet friends reading, I know this is not a big deal for your child and they may long road trip it daily screen free. But for us, this was huge and exciting. And you know what? We had a lovely ride, we talked a lot, a whole lot. He rested. We played car bingo. It was really really fun. Even my middle girl had a mini moment. The battery on her cell phone died early on in our drive and she didn’t ask to charge it or to have another device. She quietly picked up a book and read for the rest of the trip. Maybe, just maybe, even though we aren’t totally screen free yet, our dramatic daily reduction is really starting to have an impact.

We made it to the cabin and had a blast swimming, kayaking, canoeing, making s'mores ... the total typical vacation by the lake stuff. It was awesome and void of most electronics most of the time. One interesting observation during our trip. The less time the kids spent on the screen, the better they slept. Good, solid, deep, healthy sleep. And the parts of the trip where the screen time was increased, sleep quality decreased. Monumental and inspiring? Maybe not, but things are changing around here….

Previous media free stories:

• 'TV head' - Could you unplug?
• Going media free - part 1
• Breaking it to the crew - part 2
• 'Operation Unplug' - part 3
• We far from nailed it - part 4

About the author

Aubrey Conklin, moved to Texas from Michigan via Chicago almost 10 years ago. She’s been married for 14 years and is the  mom to three kids ages 11,10 and 6. A huge sports fan who not only loves all things Detroit sports but spends her own free time playing soccer, volleyball and softball. Aubrey is a part time preschool teacher as well, a volunteer for her kid's school. 

We attempted to go media free and wouldn’t you know? Nailed it!!!

Just kidding. We far from nailed it.

Ok guys, this is HARD.

The Conklins are not taking to going screen free likes ducks to water. Like. At. All.

You know the ancient proverb "fall down seven times, stand up eight?" One of my favs.

Well we have fallen down 7,000 times with this project, but we keep trying to getting up. We are at 7,001 at the moment.

The exciting news is that we have learned a healthy balance exists. We have learned that we do great without it. When we are unplugged, we are awesome! Unfortunately, it's just a bugger of a habit that is soooo easy to slip back into. This has been a frustrating experiment, but that fact that we struggle means we need to be doing this.

Going media free really is just as simple as removing the screens from the family. After simply telling the kids, “no,” you have to listen to them belly ache for a short time before they go off and find something to do.

I am going to be honest, I enjoy my screen time just as much (if not more) than the kids! I like texting people, playing Words with Friends and reading news articles online. I even do a bible study with a cool app on my phone!

Almost everything I do can be done on my phone! So when I want to get on my phone or watch a TV show, I then let the kids jump on their devices. I think my own personal enjoyment of screen time may be what is keeping us from being truly successful at this (oh my gosh, did I just admit that?)

We have worked hard to make sure the family is “off” the screen more than “on” during the day and that seems pretty manageable. The kids are getting it! They know our goal is to spend more time doing other things besides being on the screen. They don’t argue as much when I declare, “We are screen free until X, Y and Z are complete.” We are doing pretty well decreasing our screen time. Having said that, I would really like to fulfill my pledge to this blog and get to a point where we are just “off” all the time. We are working on it.

I am excited because we are going to Michigan this summer. For part of the trip we will be “Up North” where it is pretty hard to get cell phone service and I plan to ditch the hand- held games before we go.

The Conklins will be screen free before the summer is over, even if it means we have to hang out in the woods for a few days to do it.

Previous media free stories:

• 'TV head' - Could you unplug?
• Going media free - part 1
• Breaking it to the crew - part 2
• 'Operation Unplug' - part 3

I had this amazing, Mom of the Year type plan where our family would reduce our use of electronics to 1 hour a day and provide the kids an opportunity to EARN up to another hour of screen time per day by doing various chores around the house. Awesome plan right? Right.

I was trying to figure out how I was going to humorously chronicles all of our FAILS this first week of Operation UnPlug (thank you to my sweet friend DeeDee for the name). But I truly am a glass half full gal, so despite our family not being able to hit a home run with plan A, we had some big family wins. Even though we did not exactly follow the plan, we had a good week.

Some highlights from week 1

No one died. The kids swore they would die without constant electronic entertainment. They totally didn't.

We did use electronics a little less every day. Look, tracking kids' minutes (times three kids) proved to be a major pain from the word go. MAJOR.PAIN. It proved very quickly to be time consuming and complicated. But,having a general sense of how much time we are on and off electronics is admittedly helpful. We ditched the strict minute tracking and did a more informal tracking (That is us in a nutshell - informal). We were successful in making sure we were off more than we were on and that each day we were off even more than the day before.

We invented new family lingo. Our family now has our own terminology. Phrases like “going dark,” “screen free,” “fun break” and “screen amnesty” are all part of our daily conversation now. I am not sure what “Screen Amnesty” means in real life, but for us, it is unlimited screen time that is not earned and has no consequences. Fun Fact - “screen amnesty” was invented by my husband ... FOUR HOURS INTO THE FIRST DAY OF OPERATION UNPLUG! FOUR HOURS! Honestly, I thought about calling Cook Children’s and telling them they had the WRONG family after we started throwing around “screen amnesty” so early into this project.

We were so productive!!! I hate to even admit just how much cleaning we knocked out the first few days of this experiment. It was awesome. I had the kids work on their rooms, the cool thing was they would find toys they had not paid any attention to in quite some time. They would stop and play and I was OK with that. Take your time kids. All the time you need. And now that I am not consumed with crushing my old high school buddies that I haven’t seen in 20 years at Words With Friends, I do find myself spending a little more time on my own personal to-do list. Go figure.

The dog lost weight. Ok, I may be reaching here, but I am trying to focus on everything that went RIGHT this week. By unplugging, we did more cool things as a family like take the dog for long walks and she lost an eighth of a pound. Hey, a loss is a loss

Did we turn into The Waltons week 1? Oh good gravy, not even close. Did we become aware that things in our home need to change and we are in need of daily unplugging? Totally. We will keep working on it and we will keep you posted!

Previous media free stories:

• 'TV head' - Could you unplug?
• Going media free - part 1
• Breaking it to the crew - part 2

I had just agreed to write about how our family is going to drastically reduce their screen time over the summer. Now to break it to the kids. I was actually a little nervous about their reactions. After all, I had created three media junkies.

We were at the eye doctor. I was watching all three kids play on their handheld devices. My original plan was to have a big family meeting after dinner and explain the plan. But instead, in the waiting room I simply blurted out, “We are going to go almost totally screen free for the rest of the summer.” I was waiting for the big wails and sobs and yells of protests, but I don’t think they believed me. They sort of chuckled and looked back down at their games. I explained that I had been asked to write about the experience on a regular basis, and we were really going down to one hour a day. Oh buddy. That got their attention.

My middle girl, Morgan, 10 years old, said, “You know, that might be fun, we may learn something.” 

That was about it as far as the family taking it well.

Our youngest, Matthew, 6 years, said, “I don’t want to.”

Our oldest boy, Max, 11 years, said, “What? Wait, what? When? For just this weekend? Are you sure? Mom, this is not going to work. Can I pay for extra time? Can we start in September? What are we gonna DO all summer if we can’t play games?” 

You get the drift, Max is not happy. Like at all. This line of questioning went on for hours. I think I saw him actually go through some of the stages of grief to be honest, especially the denial and bargaining part. Poor guy.

I told the kids my plan is to allow them one hour a day with the option to earn an additional hour a day by doing certain chores and tasks. I figure we can set it up together. Maybe a family trip to Hobby Lobby to buy a fancy chore chart, stickers. You know, all that cool stuff I see on Pinterest, but never actually do.

I decided to give the kids 24 hours to mentally prepare. The two youngest ones want to start now. My oldest, not so much. I know there are going to be special circumstances that may result in the kids getting additional time (I bet Max will be the first to point ALL of them out) and I am not totally sure how this is going to go. I have to admit, I have gone from being completely freaked out by the idea to actually a little curious how our summer is going to change now that we will be a lot less distracted. 

Previous media free stories:

• 'TV head' - Could you unplug?
• Going media free - part 1

Aubrey Conklin, moved to Texas from Michigan via Chicago almost 10 years ago. She’s been married for 14 years and is the  mom to three kids ages 11,10 and 6.  A huge sports fan who not only loves all things Detroit sports but spends her own free time playing soccer, volleyball and softball.  Aubrey is a part time preschool teacher as well, a volunteer for her kid's school. 

My family consists of five media junkies. I am not even going to pretend we aren't. When our kid’s pediatrician, Dr. Kim Mangham, called to ask me about blogging about media this summer, I couldn't hear her because our TV was too loud.

I thought we had it under control. My family is very active. The kids play sports and swim. We go to different events and activities together all the time. But despite being so active, with all the hand-held games, TVs, computers, laptops, smart phones, tablets and video game consoles, we still manage to cram in A LOT of media time during the day.

The week before Dr. Mangham called, I had taken all my kids (11, 10 and 6) to their annual well check appointment. (Taking all three kids at the same time to their well check was either my most genius or dumbest idea yet. The jury is still out. It was crazy.)

I did give myself props because I remembered to charge everyone’s device of choice before the well check. So while everyone played on their devices, Dr. Mangham discussed with us summer safety and attempted to explain the importance of reducing media time. Dr. Mangham also mentioned that two of her patients’ parents were considering going media free for the summer. I allegedly said something agreeable to this statement and by the next week Dr. Mangham called to ask if I wanted to blog about my attempts to go media free.

I panicked. I didn't mean like really go media free. How would we go screen free? How would my kids talk to their friends? What about FaceTime with the grandparents? Use all those educational apps? What am I going to do if someone calls and I need to talk? Just not turn on the TV to their favorite program? Those Minecraft houses don't build themselves you know! How am I going to tell them? We are flying in July and I have a big meeting tomorrow!! How do you do this? Cold turkey? Reduce but not eliminate? What would we all do if we are not connected to the world?

The more questions I came up with, the more I realized that in our house media is a crutch.

We are going to try it. And our goal? To simply try and find a healthy balance when it comes to our media consumption on a daily basis

I am not sure how our journey is going to play out. Plan A (because plan A always works right?) is to reduce. We will limit our media to one hour a day,  with a chance to EARN up to another hour. Hey, maybe my baseboards will get cleaned this summer!

First things first. I have to break it to the family. Screen time as they know it is about to change!!