A mom doesn’t set a screen time limit for her kids so that it gives them the “independence to choose”.
Laura Melling, 35, has never limited how long her daughters – aged six and seven – can spend on their iPads.
Instead she lets them choose if they want to play or be in front of a screen but does ask that they leave their devices downstairs when they go up for bed.
Laura and her husband, Paul, 36, a joiner, say the girls spend 50 percent of their spare time on screens and 50 percent playing and outside.
The mom-of-two says she sees the benefits of screen time and says her girls are often watching educational YouTube videos.
Laura, a clinical research lead, from Leyland, Lancashire, said: “It’s right for the kids to choose.
“If they want to play they can. If they want to go on iPads they can.
“They have the independence to choose.”
Laura insists the family is often out and about in their caravan so the girls are still having a balance of screens and the outdoors.
She said: “They get a balance.”
But she says Sunday is often a “chill day” where the kids can stay in their pajamas and be on screens all day if they choose to.
She said: “Sunday is mainly a chill day.
“If they wake up early they can go and get their iPad.”
The kids also complete their homework on iPads and will watch educational videos off their own back.
Laura said: “Sometimes they come out with a random fact from something they’ve watched.
“My youngest told me what oobleck is the other day – which can behave like a solid or a liquid.
“My seven-year-old taught me that.”
Aside from screen time Laura won’t force her kids to finish a plate of food – but will still let them take something from the snack draw if they fancy something different.
She also lets them take an unhealthy snack in the morning – as long as they have had breakfast first.
She said: “It creates an unhealthy obsession with food.
“I know sometimes I don’t want to finish what’s on my plate but I want something else.
“I don’t look at the time and go ‘it’s only 10 a.m., so you can’t have a biscuit’.
“The snack cupboard is there.”
Laura will also drop everything if her girls want to go for a private chat at any point.
She said: “My seven-year-old is very emotional.
“If she wants to tell me something she can ask to have a private chat.
“I’ll drop anything – even if I’m in the middle of cooking dinner.
“It means she’s not hiding it from me.”
Laura and Paul also believe in facilitating experiences and memories for their daughters – even if it they have to put themselves in debt to do it.
She said: “Everyone is always in debt.
“The kids are only young once.
“We went to Lapland between Christmas and New Year and some of it went on the credit card.
“But my eldest is turning eight and she’ll start questioning Santa.
“I wanted all the magic of it all.”
Laura doesn’t use a term to define her parenting style but says she wants to be “fair”.
She said: “I don’t like to have a management style – parents that do are so strict that the kids can’t breathe.”
Laura often shares her views on TikTok @lauramell17_ugc_creator and says she has people who don’t agree with her own parenting habits.
She said: “They are my kids. I can parent them how I want.”
