We're Not a Screen-Free Family — And Maybe That's Okay
My Little Wallaby
We are not a screen-free family. There. I said it.
At My Little Wallaby, we talk a lot about open-ended play, books, puzzles, pretend play, Montessori-inspired learning and toys that help children use their imagination. And we believe in all of that deeply.
But we are also real parents living in Brisbane with a real six-year-old child, real work, real tired days, real sickness, real dinner chaos and real moments where the screen is simply part of the house.
Our son watches screens. Not everything, not freely, and not without us paying attention. But yes, he watches them.
Sometimes it is Numberblocks. Sometimes it is Doctor Binocs. Sometimes it is something educational, sometimes something silly, and sometimes something that gives us a little breathing room as parents.
We try to choose carefully. We supervise. We talk about what he watches. We try to avoid the endless autoplay hole. We are not perfect at it. And that is exactly the point.
We borrow from Montessori, but we are not perfect Montessori parents
We read about Montessori. We read about child development. We read about different parenting approaches.
Then we do what many parents quietly do: we take what feels right, what fits our values, and what we can actually apply in our family routine. Some ideas stay. Some ideas don't. Some work beautifully in theory and collapse at 5:30pm on a Tuesday.
For us, Montessori-inspired play is not about following every rule perfectly. It is about choosing simple, hands-on activities that encourage independence, focus and curiosity in a way that fits real family life. If that sounds like your home too, you can explore our Montessori Toys collection.
In our home, we try to keep screens low during the school week. On weekends, our usual rhythm is around one hour on Saturday and one hour on Sunday.
If our son wants screen time during the week, he needs to read for 20 minutes first — extra reading, separate from homework. So on those days, he reads his school book and another short book too.
The books are age-appropriate. Some are only five pages, some ten — some in English, some in Spanish. We are a Latino family in Australia, and raising a bilingual child means language is always part of our home. Some days English is easier. Some days Spanish needs more encouragement. Books help.
For several months, this little rule worked well for us. Then we got sick.
The week we "failed" our own screen-time rule
A few weeks ago, we all got sick. The kind of sick where you are not parenting with your best self. You are surviving. Everyone is tired. Everyone is uncomfortable. The house feels heavy.
And yes, the screen-time rule fell apart. Our son watched more TV than usual. Still supervised. Still chosen by us. But much more than our normal rhythm.
And of course, the guilt arrived. That very specific parent guilt that says:
"We are ruining the routine."
"We are letting him watch too much."
"We should be doing better."
Even while sick, we were judging ourselves. Then something happened.
At school, we have to record the books our son reads each week. When I sat down to update his reading record, I realised that during the same week I felt guilty about "too much TV", he had read eight books.
Eight. Short books, yes — some five pages, some ten. But eight books. Some in English. Some in Spanish.
And I stopped for a moment and thought: how many adults read even half a book this week?
That moment changed how I saw the whole week. Was it a perfect week? No. Was there more screen time than usual? Yes. But was it a failure? Maybe not. Maybe it was just a real family having a hard week, still holding onto some good things.
Not all screen time is the same
This is where the screen-time conversation needs more honesty.
A child watching random videos alone for hours is not the same as a child watching a chosen program with a parent nearby. A child lost in autoplay is not the same as a child watching Numberblocks and then talking about numbers. A screen replacing sleep, outdoor play, reading and family connection is not the same as a screen helping a sick family get through the afternoon.
Context matters. Quality matters. What the screen is replacing matters. And what happens before and after the screen matters too.
What we try to look at instead of only counting minutes
We still care about time. Of course we do. But we try not to look only at minutes. We ask better questions:
- Was the content appropriate?
- Was it chosen intentionally?
- Was he watching alone or were we nearby?
- Did we talk about it?
- Did he also read, play, move, build, imagine, or go outside?
- Did the screen replace something important, or did it help us through a specific moment?
This helps us parent with more clarity and less panic.
Our imperfect family screen-time rhythm
This is what we try to do in our home:
- We keep screens limited during the school week.
- We allow more flexibility on weekends.
- We ask for reading before extra screen time.
- We choose content carefully.
- We try to watch or listen nearby when we can.
- We talk about what he watched.
- We keep Books accesible
- We keep toys available for after-screen transitions.
One thing that helps us after screen time is having simple, open-ended toys nearby — the kind that do not tell a child exactly what to do, but invite them to build, pretend, create or continue the story in their own way. You can explore our Open-Ended Toys for Kids collection if you are looking for screen-free play ideas that feel calm, flexible and easy to return to.
For quieter days, puzzles are one of our favourite ways to move from screen time into something slower and more focused. Browse our Puzzles for Kids collection for simple, screen-free activities that support concentration and independent play.
- We accept that sick days, travel days and exhausted days will not look perfect.
That last one is the hardest.
The goal is not to be a perfect family
We do not want to present ourselves as the perfect family. We are not.
We use screens. We feel guilty. We make rules. We break them. We start again.
We try Montessori-inspired ideas, but we are not strict about any single method. We believe in books, but some nights we are too tired. We believe in open-ended play, but some days the TV wins.
And still, our child is learning. Still reading. Still asking questions. Still building, pretending, counting, laughing, speaking two languages and growing into himself. That matters too.
Maybe the better question is: what kind of childhood are we building overall?
One imperfect week does not define a child. One extra episode does not erase the books read, the conversations had, the puzzles built, the walks taken, the stories told or the little moments of connection that happen every day.
The bigger question is not:
"Did we get screen time perfect today?"
Maybe the better question is:
"Are we building a home where screens are part of life, but not the centre of life?"
That is what we are trying to do. Not perfectly. But honestly. And maybe that is a better place to start.
Frequently asked questions
Is it OK if my child watches TV every day?
There is no single right answer. In our home we keep screens low during the school week and allow more flexibility on weekends — usually around an hour on Saturday and an hour on Sunday. What we pay attention to is not only the minutes, but what is being watched, whether we are nearby, and what else our child is doing that day: reading, playing, moving, building, being outside.
How do we handle screen-time guilt as parents?
We feel it too. The week we all got sick, our six-year-old watched more TV than usual and the guilt arrived quickly. What helped was widening the frame. In the same week we felt guilty about "too much TV", he had read eight short books, some in English and some in Spanish. The week was not perfect, but it was not a failure either. Patterns over weeks and months matter more than any single hard day.
How do we encourage reading alongside screen time?
In our home, if our son wants screen time during the week, he reads for 20 minutes first — extra reading, separate from homework. The books are age-appropriate. Some are five pages, some are ten, some are in English, some are in Spanish. Keeping books accessible and tying them gently to screen-time requests has worked better for us than any rule about minutes.
Do we have to follow a parenting method like Montessori strictly?
We borrow from Montessori. We read about child development. We try ideas that fit our values and our routine, and we drop the ones that collapse at 5:30pm on a Tuesday. Believing in open-ended play, books and imaginative toys does not mean rejecting screens entirely. It means trying to keep them part of life, not the centre of it.
How does being a bilingual family change screen time?
We are a Latino family in Australia, so language is always part of our home. Some days English is easier, some days Spanish needs more encouragement. Books in both languages help keep that balance. We also pay attention to the language of what our son watches, and we talk about it afterwards — in whichever language the conversation lands in.
