What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood | Parenting Tips From Funny Moms

How Kids Spend Their Time (And How They Should)


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How are our kids actually spending their time — and is it aligned with what we value for our families' lives and for our children's well-being?

This week, Amy and Margaret discuss:

  • How sleep too often loses out to homework and activities

  • Time tracking and the sobering truth it can show about how many hours a week our kids actually spend on screens

  • How outdoor time and free play, too often in short supply, affects creativity, independence, and self-regulation

    • Strategies for families to audit time, realign priorities, and invite kids into decision-making

      It's worth the effort to track how our time is actually spent. As Annie Dillard said: “How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.”


      Here are links to some of the resources we mention in the episode:

      • Gretchen Livingston for Pew Research Center: The way U.S. teens spend their time is changing, but differences between boys and girls persist
      • Cleveland Clinic: How Much Sleep Kids Need: Recommended Hours by Age
      • Dahl KL, et. al: Time Playing Outdoors Among Children Aged 3-5 Years: National Survey of Children's Health, 2021.
      • Yeshe Colliver et. al for Early Childhood Research Quarterly:
      • Free play predicts self-regulation years later: Longitudinal evidence from a large Australian sample of toddlers and preschoolers
      • Our Fresh Take with Christina Martin on How Children Learn Through Play
      • Our Fresh Take with Lenore Skenazy, author of FREE-RANGE KIDS
      • Our Fresh Take with Ginny Yurich, host of the 1000 Hours Outside podcast
      • Our Fresh Take with Laura Vanderkam, time-tracking expert
      • Sign up for the What Fresh Hell newsletter! Once a month you’ll get our favorite recent episodes, plus links to other things to read and watch and listen to, and upcoming special events

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        What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood | Parenting Tips From Funny MomsBy Margaret Ables and Amy Wilson

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