Screen free Parenting in the Digital age
Are you using technology or is it using you?
“Papa, don’t watch screen. It isn’t good for you.”
My 3-year-old caught me with the TV on by accident the other day. And she said this.
I felt something shift in my chest. Not guilt. Pride.
Here’s the thing—we’re not screen purists in our home. We use phones. We videocall family once in a while. The screens are there. But somewhere along the way, without lectures or rigid rules, our kids absorbed something more important than a restriction.
They learned that screens are tools, not toys. Means, not ends.
You don’t pick up your phone because you’re bored. You pick it up because Nani wants to see your drawing. Or because Dadi wants to show you the apple trees. Or because we’re reminiscing how we were when we went to the diamond beach in Iceland.
The difference? Intention.
And honestly, I think this is the parenting hill worth climbing today. Not the “zero screen time” fantasy. Not the “they’ll figure it out themselves” surrender. But the middle path—where technology serves us, not the other way around.
Our daughters don’t fear screens. They just don’t need them to fill the void. Because there is no void. There are blocks to stack, stories to tell, mud to squish between fingers and pages to paint. And when they want to make a call, they pick up the AC remote - their make do phones :)
This isn’t about being better parents. It’s about being ‘present’ ones. The kind who model what we want to see. Who don’t doom-scroll during dinner. Who don’t reach for the phone the second we’re uncomfortable with silence.
Our kids are watching us. Learning from us. Not from what we say about screens - but from what we do with them.
So maybe the question isn’t “How do we keep screens away from our kids?”
Maybe it’s “How do we teach them that life is more interesting than what’s glowing in their hands?”
What’s your approach to screens at home? We’d genuinely love to hear how other parents are navigating this—because none of us have it figured out, and that’s okay.
💬 Let’s Redefine “Smart Parenting”
At Life of Pi Square, we believe that parenting is logical and the smartest parents aren’t the ones using the latest apps.
They’re the ones who know when to pause and listen.
If this message resonates with you,
📬 Subscribe for more reflections on mindful, connected parenting in the digital age.
Follow our journey on Instagram @lifeofpisquare
and explore our approach to raising confident, independent kids at lifeofpisquare.com