Thank you for joining us for episode 380 of Live Happy Now.

As we go back to school, it means kids are spending even more time on their screens.

So what's a parent to do?

I'm your host, Paula Phelps, and this week I'm talking with child care advocate and author Florence

Anne Romano about the importance of balancing time on devices.

Florence Ann is a big fan of ditching the devices and discovering off-screen play.

And she's here today to talk about how parents can get a handle on their children's screen time and maybe improve their own screen habits in the process.

Florence Ann, welcome to live happy now.

Thank you for having me.

We are headed back to school and this makes it the perfect time to sit down and talk with you

because as we head back, it makes managing our children's screen time even more challenging than maybe during

the summer. So I guess to start, do you have any different guidelines for different age groups

about like how much is too much time? It's really going to depend on the circumstances of the family.

You know, you don't have to follow, you know, these parameters

necessarily and be like, okay, if, you know, they're three years old, it's only going to be, you know,

30 minutes a day. I think it depends on what you need to use the technology for. And I've never

been someone who is a stickler for rules consistently necessarily. I know that may sound

funny, but what I mean by that is you have to be flexible. Depending on the day, depending on what's

going on with the kids, you know, you may need a little more screen time than less. And that's

okay. You know, I think people get caught up in this idea that it's balanced, balance, balance.

And, you know, every day is not going to be balanced the way you may define it.

You know, certain days may be more balanced than others.

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