Have As Much Screen Time As You Want, Kids!

   

After a birthday or holiday, my children migrate between new toys.  From the basketball hoop in the basement to new dolls and games, they are never still for any length of time.  However, it’s not the toys that are keeping my kids engaged, it’s my iPhone.

No, I didn’t give my five-year old child my iPhone for Christmas. Tsk, tsk, I know what you were thinking.   My daughter is taking my phone everywhere she goes because her best friend is on the other end of it.  She’s using the app FaceTime (similar to Skype) to enjoy a daily play date of imagination with her BFF – her best friend from our last assignment who now lives in South Carolina.

Every morning, she’s played Legos, Barbie’s, veterinarians, American Girl dolls and more all with the convenience of technology.   I watch behind a cracked door as my daughter speaks so animated, twirls in her tutu, to a small video screen that is carefully positioned deep inside her dollhouse.  I hear a squeal and the familiar sound of laughter coming from the painted miniature bedroom on the third floor of Barbie’s Dream House.  They are entranced with each other, it’s as if they never moved from each other.  I’m bemused by it at first, but I realize it’s a modern child’s play.  I’m grateful for the technology.  My daughter is truly happy.

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Stacy Huisman: Stacy Allsbrook-Huisman is an Air Force spouse, writer, mother and advocate within the military spouse community. As a former Parent-to-Parent trainer for Military Child Education Coalition, she led workshops and seminars on many topics related to the education of military-connected students. She is the coauthor with Dr. Amanda Trimillos of Seasons of My Military Student: Practical Ideas for Parents and Teachers (Elva Resa, 2018). In her “other” life, she worked in public affairs and project management for the city of Las Vegas for 14 years. She was the Executive Director for the Las Vegas Centennial. She had a hand in baking the world largest birthday cake, hosting a 100,000 person parade, marrying 100 couples at once, organizing an amazing Red Hot Chili Peppers concert and managing 450 other events, programs and public relations celebrating her hometown birthday! She met her husband while he was stationed at Nellis AFB. She was whisked away on a crazy military spouse journey around the globe and hasn’t looked back since – only forward. Stacy is connected to many aspects of military life. She writes for one of our other Victory Media publications - GI Jobs Magazine - where she features successful transitioned Veterans in the workforce. She continues to write for myriad of websites and blogs, including a mini-think tank she co-founded called Families on the Home Front. Stacy was published in the popular book Stories Around the Table - Laughter, Wisdom, and Strength in Military Life. She is also a judge for Operation Homefront's Military Child of the Year 2015.
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