Glennon Doyle: “Stop Mom Shaming Yourself During A Global Pandemic!”
Although the term “mom guilt” tends to cover a lot of shameful ground, there seems to be no topic testier than our kid’s TV time when it comes to how we rank ourselves as parents. Now more than ever, television, video games, and tablets have become every parent’s saving grace as we attempt to navigate this strange new reality of social isolation, working remotely and the sudden expectation to homeschool our children.
Best selling author and self-proclaimed “demotivational speaker” Glennon Doyle, however, is having none of it. In a candid, 12 minute Instagram video, Doyle goes on to express her grievances with parents stressing out about “TV time” considering the current state of affairs.
“Listen to me, parents, and listen good,” Doyle said. “‘TV time’ is for peace times. There is no crying in baseball, and there is no ‘TV time’ during corona.”
Doyle goes on to explain that when she was a preschool teacher some years ago, she noticed a pattern emerge within her students. The children she taught only seemed to remember the morning and evening activities, and therefore encouraged parents to focus on starting and ending each day strong. She offers this philosophy to parents who are currently struggling with there new home-life balance.
“Listen to me, parents of young ones. Start strong and finish strong each day. After breakfast, read a book with them. Ok? Great. That’s starting strong. Then, a quick 7 hour TV show. Then before, dinner, turn off the TV and do something cool. Something fun. Not Pinterest fun, easy fun. A board game, ISpy, that is finishing strong. Then dinner, then obviously another family show. That is the corona plan.”
Feeling skeptical about this unsolicited advice? Doyle thought you would say so, thus goes on to support her tangent by citing a study showing the correlation between TV time and improved socialization in children.
“If two hours a day can make them more sociable, I want you to just imagine what 8 hours a day might do for our children,” Doyle said in partial jest.
Ultimately, Doyle’s humorous yet sincere message is one of giving yourself some grace during this uncertain season.
“Mom shaming yourself during a global pandemic- this is a bridge too far,” Doyle said. “This is where I draw the line.”