[pkdpic]

Before having a kid I never realized how powerful of a tool a TV or an iPad was in terms of (essentially) free babysitting.

Families where grandparents can afford to retire and / or move closer to their grandchildren are operating on an entirely different level financially. As are families where the parent or parents can work from home. As are families that can afford childcare which can easily cost as much or more than a mortgage in California at least. Even after public Kindergarten or TK becomes available these are mostly only half day coverage (again in CA) and you are completely on your own to figure out how to cover (pay for) the rest of the time if both parents work and there aren't other family members in the picture.

So in summary, I never would have realized that regardless of how much screen time you want your kid having the reality has shown itself to be that there is a direct correlation between relying on screen time and the financial standing of you and your extended family, for better or worse.

I was very lucky to have remote work when I had a kid, but my parents couldn't / can't afford to retire and that has had a huge financial impact on us. If I had an in-person job we would have had to rely a lot more on screens to fill in the gaps.

In any case no complaints I absolutely love having a kid and am glad to pay for good quality school / childcare and I don't really believe there's anything wrong with screen time anyway.

Watching 3-6 hours of TV a day after school while my parents worked and did whatever adults did in the 90's didn't seem to do as much harm to me mentally as I would have thought. It seems insane in retrospect.

[dsego]

It's crazy to compare my household now vs my experience as a kid in the 90s. TV was always on in the background, whether it was the news, or documentaries, sports, or cartoons, always something. As a kid I knew at what time different soap operas or TV shows would be on the program. We also had schools in shifts, and some weeks I would go to school at 2pm, so I had the whole morning without parents to do homework and watch TV, there was nothing else to do. I do spend a lot of time online now, but the TV is almost always turned off in my house. Only occasionally will I turn on the TV and play a cartoon channel on cable (or disney) for my kid if I have something to do.

[fastasucan]

This whole post is spot on. Where I live the use of a screen as a baby sitter is a lot higher in the households where there is a single parent, or where both parents work jobs with very low flexibility, often in combination with no grandparents able to help out.