Chatter and craft with Geneviève Jetté: interview for the 5@8 Screen-Free Challenge

Geneviève is the powerhouse of energy behind the blog La Récréation (in French). A mom who shows that a colorful life is possible: no need to wait for the trip of a lifetime, you just need to see the sweet little moments as little Récréations (recess breaks), close your eyes, savor them, and then realize your child has just emptied the ketchup bottle on the kitchen floor!!! Because that's real life too, deep down! Nothing is perfect, it never will be, and it's always better to laugh and enjoy it than to cry!!! We bet her collaboration will bring a nice breath of fresh air to your screen-free 5@8s!   How many children do you have, and how old are they? I have 3 wonderful boys, aged 17 months, 7 and 10   How many screens do you have at home?  A laptop and a TV   On a “normal” weekday, how many hours do you spend with your children? I'm with the baby 4 days a week, and otherwise during the school year I'm with the boys until they leave in the morning and again as soon as they get back from school at 3:00 p.m. In the summer, I'm home with them full time.   How many hours a day do you spend on screens?  During work hours it's from about 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (the equivalent of someone who works at an office), but in the evening I also often have to work once the kids are in bed, and sometimes in the morning around 5 a.m. before waking them up… Part of my work is managing the social media of several businesses, and I have to say I have a hard time making a break between work and leisure… But you see, right now I'm answering this questionnaire and it's 11:17 p.m.   What habit have you lost because of (or thanks to) technology? Opening a dictionary, asking for directions, memorizing a phone number, digging through a recipe book, phoning a friend, going to the bank (thank you, depositing checks with a camera)…   What's the one app you can't do without on your cell phone? Instagram, really the thing I like best on social media.   Which app should you delete? On weekends: Messenger. I've started cutting it off, slowly but surely, because people from work often have time to work in the evenings and on weekends, and I want those times reserved for family… Messenger has become the quick place to get a quick answer, but I no longer want to be reachable all the time.   Is it hard to manage your own screen time?  Yes and no. Work spilling into the schedule reserved for family is a scourge… It's worse since people can see the green dot when you're online. Even worse since the “Seen” button came along. On the other hand, I have friends who live far away, and this lets us chat, sometimes late in the evening, as if they were my neighbors, and to me that's worth a lot. When I became a mom, the isolation was so hard; I'd moved to a city where I didn't know anyone, and my screen kind of saved me by helping me form friendships that suit me… So if I'm on my screen chatting with a friend late at night, to me it's like being on the phone, except I can tidy up and do my dishes at the same time. It's win-win, I think!   Do you have a screen rule at home? Here we have no TV upstairs and no cable on the one in the basement; in fact, we turn it on 15 times a year at most now, whereas before it ran non-stop. The boys watch a movie from time to time on Saturday night or if we have guests who stay up late… The kids don't use the tablet or computers here, only at their grandparents'… Their screen time is therefore on average 2 hours a week, sometimes less, sometimes a bit more.   Are you more airplane mode or FOMO (fear of missing out)? It really depends on the period of my life. I swing between extremes when it comes to the virtual world. Sometimes I just don't want to open anything anymore and that lasts a few weeks, and other times it's the opposite and I don't want to miss anything.  

Rapid-fire round:

  Your favorite board game? Guess Who and the Janod variant, Tékitoua   Your favorite children's book? Honestly, it's impossible for me to name just one. I have too many favorites…   Your favorite app for little ones? I don't have any kids' apps on my cell (OMG). Sometimes I download P'tit Yoga, though.   Your favorite family outing? Anything done in a field: going to the pumpkin patch, the orchard, strawberry picking, blueberry picking… Because it's inspiring and makes me want to cook. As a farmer's granddaughter, it smells like my whole childhood, and I feel like I'm leaving memories in my children's hearts.   The toy that can captivate your kids for hours? Books, and not just for show… My kids read like it's a full-time job. Makes no sense. They always have a book in their hands! We have hundreds of books here, it's a sickness. Before, they'd wake up and turn on the TV; now they open a book. It's almost automatic! As part of the “5@8 Screen-Free Challenge,” Geneviève suggests chatting and crafting a TREASURE HUNT. A few scraps of paper, a treasure and a few clues. Enough to liven up your whole evening with total simplicity. Don't hesitate to share photos of your 5@8s on social media using #Défi5a8sansécrans