Mom Confessions
No-Limit Screen Time
"I don't limit my kids' screen time" —Bess
"I let my kids—two boys, ages three and seven—watch as much TV as they want. Sometimes on Saturday morning or rainy days, they'll watch as much as four or five hours at a time. Mostly it's so I can get things done. But I also know they'll get tired of it themselves and ask me to do something else. And I think that if I'm not enforcing screen time limitations, it doesn't become a 'forbidden' thing, just a normal thing that they'll learn to police on their own."
7-Year-Old Sleep Away Camp
"I let my seven-year-old go to sleepaway camp for a month." —Elisabeth
"When I enrolled my daughter, who was going into second grade, for a camp two states away, I definitely got some negative feedback. But I had gone to camp when I was eight and loved it, and my daughter was extremely self-sufficient and outgoing. She ended up loving camp and went back for two months every summer for seven years. I think learning to be independent at an early age really helped her. She spent a year living with a family and attending a local school in Lima, Peru when she was 16. She came back so much more mature, inquisitive and worldly than most of her friends."
Candy in the Morning
"I let my daughter eat candy … in the morning" —Maureen
"Like most kids, my daughter, who's five, asks for sweets at all hours of the day. She once asked in the morning at breakfast, and I realized I was going to be brushing her teeth right afterwards before she went to school, so I said yes. Now it's become a tradition. I don't let her have sweets other times of the day, but I don't feel bad about her breakfast treat because I know I am brushing her teeth after."
Bedroom Television
"I allowed my stepdaughter to have a TV in her room" —Elizabeth
"When my stepdaughter came to live with us in eighth grade, she asked if she could have a TV in her room. I hesitated—I was afraid she would be watching it 25/7 instead of doing her homework and participating in school activities. But she was one of the top students at her school, she was a voracious reader and she never had to be asked to do homework, so we decided to give it a whirl, knowing we could always remove it. Fast forward six years: She got a full scholarship to a great college and is on the Dean's List. I think letting her have a TV in her room allowed her to relax and zone out when she needed to, and also taught her how to regulate her viewing in a mature way."
Allowing Alcohol
"I let my kids drink alcohol" —Christine
"Since they were little, whenever my daughter and son asked for a sip of an alcoholic drink, I let them have it. I lived in Italy for a year when I was a kid, and children there drink a little cup of watered-down wine starting at about age five. I've never thought it was a big deal. My kids are now 15 and 11, and they are not even curious about alcohol at this point."
Ski Trip With Strangers
"I let my teen go on a ski trip with people I had never met" —Chris
I let my 15-year-old go on a weekend ski trip with a friend from school. I had met the friend, but I had never laid eyes on her parents and I didn't call them beforehand. In fact, I didn't even get a phone number. I just trusted my daughter's judgment and choice of friends. And she came back safe and sound."
