Limiting Screen Time

Recently, I got very annoyed at the amount of screen time Everett has been having and the amount of whining that went along with it.  It seemed like a constant every day that he would be begging for a show on t.v. or his iPod or my phone, and it was a whiny begging to boot.  I would try to tell him, "not right now," or "wait until the babies are sleeping" and nothing seemed to help.  He would whine so much that I would eventually give in for the sake of my sanity and then he'd zone out for 30-60 minutes.  I hate the way I could tell that his brain absolutely shut OFF while watching a show.  It was the exact same look I remember seeing on Brian when we were in high school and you could tell his ADHD kicked in.  I fear that Everett will have ADHD too and I know that screen time would contribute to that, so I was really upset that he was watching so much.  Plus I felt like a terrible mom because I should be teaching him during those times that he's bored.
Well, this week, we implemented a "no screen time during daycare hours" rule.  He's questioned it a few times and asked for a show or tried to nab his iPod, but he is doing amazingly well.  I think having such a clear rule that he knows (if there is an extra baby in the house, there's no tv or iPod) helps him to cut down on the whining too.  I'm not going to say "not right now" or "maybe later;" it's just going to be a "no.  Not until daycare is over for the day."  It is absolutely amazing the immediate turn-around in behavior/boredom in just one and a half days.  He's playing independently; he made us pretend egg salad and soup this morning and has a whole city of cars hiding behind the couch in his secret hiding space.  He's more willing to sit and read a book or color or work on learning letters.  He's playing with the babies and helping me.  I love it!  This is just further support that cancelling cable would be good for us.  I think I'd like to keep the basic channels but just getting rid of the constant availability of kid's shows on Nick Jr and Sprout might be nice.
Anyway.  Everett's decided that naps are for babies and he wants to play his Diego board game with me, so I'm off to be a good mama!