Having the chat feature off is the most important. I think the creative mode is better than survival mode because then they can just build and have fun and if there is a benefit to the game it is in the creativity. With all games and screens i would still keep an eye on what they are seeing in the game and make sure you don’t notice a behavior shift after they play. For some kids video games can be really disruptive and hard to ‘come down’ from so just watch for that.

I had a very busy job that kept me away from my kids quite a bit. I stepped away from it and the opportunity to grow in my career because I saw the toll it was taking on my kids/family and my own mental health. I am still in the same field but have a job with better and more predictable hours. It has helped tremendously for our family and I have found that my guilt about being away from them and the mental exhaustion from that is gone. I think it’s important for my kids to see me work and my career, but not at the expense of missing out on their childhood and my happiness too. I’ve never regretted it and I don’t think you will either. I finally asked myself 10 years from now will I wish I had worked more or had more time with my kids and it helped me
to keep perspective when I walked away.

We do maybe one a week per kid but bonus if you can double up more than one kid! One thing I do with a friend who has kids close in age is trade kids so they can get some individual time. I’ll take the younger ones one day and she’ll take the older ones or vice versa.

I have really cut back on the thought and energy I put into these since boys really seem to not care much. Usually I’ll do some sort of snack like goldfish, maybe a lollipop and I have done some cool bulk keychains from Amazon before or stickers for
Their waterbottles, stick on tatoos, or glow sticks.

Agree with all of these comments. There’s a real phenomenon called restraint collapse and it’s basically that they have had to hold together at school all day and when they finally get home to their ‘safe place’ they can finally let it all out. Always have to tell myself to just ride it out

Another helpful thing I have found is trying to give them back some sense of control. They are told all day to follow directions so letting them have reasonable choices can help- ‘do you want the pink or blue cup’ ‘do you want to read this book or that one’, etc can help fill up their cup.

I also think an easy way to get them to share about their day is to do a rose/thorn or strawberry/lemon for the day. I always make sure to do mine too. Can open the door for good little convos about what made them happy and what was hard.

Kids eat in Color is a great resource for picky eaters and they have lots of creative ideas. Key is to keep
offering even if they don’t eat it and not to do the bargaining where you make them eat it in order to get something else, it will always backfire. Choice and control are huge at this age so any opportunity to let them ‘choose’ or be in control can sometimes help!
I also add pureed veggies to most of my sauces and mix in zoodles with my regular spaghetti and they often can’t tell the difference!

Looking for a good, affordable option for a smart watch to help me keep tabs on where my kids are. I have heard good things about the gizmo. Any suggestions welcomed!