Crayons & Careers

Helping Working Parents Create Balance at Home and at Work

We live in a world where screens are everywhere—at school, at work, and even at the dinner table. They are a necessity in our world as much as many of us sometimes would prefer to have our children experience some of the 80’s and 90’s childhood before cell phones and the internet. For working moms juggling careers and caregiving, technology can be both a lifesaver and a source of stress, especially summer. If you’ve ever felt guilty handing your child a tablet so you can finish a Zoom call, you’re not alone. This post is here to offer relief, not shame—because balance is possible with thoughtful digital boundaries.

Why Digital Boundaries Matter

Digital devices aren’t the enemy. But without clear boundaries, screens can interrupt connection, sleep, creativity, and even mental health for both kids and adults. We tend to use them because they are a quick and easy solution. Our brains move naturally to what is easiest and tend to avoid the uncomfortable. Handing your kiddo the device before jumping on your call is easy but it’s also easy to forget they have it and so the thirty-minute call turns into two hours as you knock out your call, a bunch of emails and a lot of work. That two hours of productivity is not a bad thing, the hard part is that there are other challenges with comes with too much screen time and creating harmony and balance, so it doesn’t interrupt connection, sleep and mental health as mentioned above. I get it, it feels overwhelming, and you have so much stress on your plate already! Take a pause and realize that you can find a balance that works for you. The first step is to create a family framework that helps you take control, rather than feeling controlled by devices.

5 Steps to Healthier Digital Habits for Families

🤝Create a Family Media Plan for Summer

Collaborate with your kids and Spouse/Partner to build rules around screen time. Include fun activities and agreed-upon limits. When children help set the rules, they’re more likely to follow them. Determine what works well for your kids and their age and your schedule. For example, for this summer our kids have a general list of responsibilities and activities that must be completed in a day before they can have screen time. Now, three of them can read and write well on their own so the youngest we adapt slightly but setting this expectation means that we usually create about two hours in the morning in which the kids have activities that are occupying them.

This doesn’t mean that they watch or use electronics the rest of the day after they complete these activities, but it does create healthy habits for them before screen time and they each have screen time limits for the day. So if they choose thirty minutes for a show after completing their responsibilities, then they don’t have an hour at night when their siblings do.

Try Canva or Pinterest for fun templates you can create for a helpful template.

📲 Set Tech-Free Zones & Times

Designate areas (like the dinner table or bedrooms) and times (like before bed or during family activities) where screens are off-limits. This is all about planning and yes, in the moment that can be hard, but these little habits create space and less stress in your day and give space for meaningful connection. Meaningful connection is fulfilling and ultimately helps decrease stress! If everyone knows that family dinner time is electronically free, then it’s easier to hold each other accountable. If you have a plan for every morning before screen time is earned, you’ve created space for other activities and more screen free time. One tip for younger kids is to spend a few minutes putting together an activity box with screen free activities. Check out our blog post that talks about a few ideas for this below.

https://crayonsandcareers.com/2025/05/29/coffee-calls-chaos/: Navigating Technology: Setting Healthy Digital Boundaries for Families

🔗 Tip: For older kids, use a basket for “tech drop-off” during these times or for when they have friends over. If a friend needs to send a message to their parent, the basket is always accessible, but the expectation is they will hang out together and not be on their phones sitting next to each other.

🎯 Be a Digital Role Model

Kids absorb what they see. When you model putting your phone away, setting boundaries at work, or saying “no” to endless scrolling, they learn balance through you. If you’ve agreed as a family to have no screen time and zones above then hold yourself accountable as your kids are watching, no matter what age.

This is one of the hardest habits for me to break myself, especially when balancing certain aspects of work. I have always felt for work that I need to be on call whenever needed and so I developed a habit of constantly checking my phone. This has changed over the years as I’ve learned to create more boundaries. It’s one thing to be on call during the work day in summer. It’s another to be on call at 7pm at night. Let’s be clear, I’m not a doctor and my career doesn’t require me right now to demand as some do. This is why all of these tools should be individualized for you. They are meant to be tips and ideas to create your own personal authentic life. For me, setting boundaries in the morning and evening have helped. Those hours where I need to be present for my kids are focused on putting away my computer and phone. Yes, sometimes during sports practice I may have a dedicated hour or two of time but otherwise it’s focused on being screen free.

Even 15 minutes of distraction-free play or conversation makes a difference.

📌 Use Tech with Intention

Not all screen time is equal. Watching a show together, doing a dance challenge, or learning something new online can be great bonding moments. Reality, this is hard! It’s easy for me to just choose a show or play one of the games without intention. How do you change this, well from someone who struggles with this. I’m working to incorporate this discussion into our weekly planning. We may choose a night for a family movie. This past week my daughter read a book that was turned into a movie, so we said, let’s all watch the movie together. Does this work every week? No, but if we can do this once a week, then that’s great. If they spend the week with their cousins playing, we encourage activities with electronics like Grandma and Grandpa’s Wii golf or a dance game over watching independent shows on each device The key? Co-engagement, yes, easier said than done but creating habits makes this easier!

Check out the book “Atomic Habits” By James Clear to learn how Habit Stacking can help!

🗓 Schedule Offline Fun

Build moments of joy away from devices—nature walks, baking, storytelling, crafts. Offline doesn’t mean boring; it means being fully present. Even if it’s just fifteen minutes of reading with your kids in the morning it creates a time to connect. Reminder, social media is a highlight reel. You won’t see the tantrums or meltdowns that occurred during these activities. You won’t see the failed craft that created the mess on their table or even the laughter or funny moments. That phrase you hear all the time, keeping up with Jones’s, yup, it’s true, you do not need to keep up with anyone else. You don’t need to schedule offline fun to keep up with everyone else. Your offline fun can be a movie night at home instead of the drive-in movie theater because you are tired after a long week at work. You can play wiffle ball in the yard vs. going to the baseball game. Do what works for you, not everyone else. So when you sit down to decide what to schedule, think about what works with your work and kids schedule, not what you see all around you. That’s probably one of the most important things you can do but also one of the hardest in our modern society where we see so much posted online that we compare ourselves too! These activities may at first feel like work as you change the habit, but they should also give you peace and enjoyment!

These unplugged rituals help anchor your family during busy weeks.

Closing Thought

As a working parent, it’s not about doing it perfectly, it’s about staying intentional. Setting digital boundaries isn’t about restriction; it’s about creating space for connection, rest, and joy. Every small step you take helps build a healthier, more present family life. Choose a little bit more connection each week and create healthy habits for everyone. You will be surprised at how quickly small changes add up!

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