Hello Reader, Some projects begin loudly. This one didn’t. About a year ago, in the middle of all the noise — the headlines about screen time bans, the rising panic around The Anxious Generation, the endless hot takes about whether parents are failing, whether schools are behind, whether technology is ruining childhood or somehow saving it — I found myself sitting with a quieter question. What if we’re asking the wrong thing? Or maybe more accurately… what if we’re asking one question, when...
25 days ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, How’s your summer going? I feel like I’ve been living in three time zones at once — after crossing the Pacific twice in just a few weeks, I’m finally back in Hong Kong and dreaming in my own bed. Somewhere between airport lounges, sleepless flights, and a lot of parenting in motion, I stumbled into a rabbit hole: Character.AI, the chatbot app that’s suddenly everywhere with kids and teens. It all started with a screen time alert about my youngest. One thing led to another… and soon...
10 months ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, Infinite Screentime just turned five years old! Which, in tech years, basically makes it a Boomer. Here’s a photo of me and my kids celebrating the early days of this movement… Happy Birthday Infinitely! When I restarted this newsletter a few months ago, I realized many of you might not know the full story behind Infinite Screentime. And as I’ve been looking back at old photos—my kids smaller, chubbier, clutching tablets like treasures—I’m struck by how much they’ve grown. Time...
11 months ago • 3 min read
Hellloooo Reader, It’s been a while since I landed in your cozy inbox—sorry for the radio silence! The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. But here we are: school’s out, and SUMMER is officially on. Let’s be real—summer’s supposed to feel like a break. But for many of us parents, it’s anything but relaxing. The school-year structure disappears. Routines dissolve. The days stretch long and hot.And suddenly… screentime becomes the default babysitter. If you’re feeling that creeping...
12 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, If The Anxious Generation has been popping up in your feeds, group chats, or school newsletters lately—you’re not imagining it. When I was chatting with a friend who’s a high school principal, she told me: “The biggest debate happening in schools right now isn’t about curriculum, mental test, or testing—it’s whether or not to ban phones.” Jonathan Haidt’s new book is the #1 bestseller shaking up the parenting world. It's bold. It’s backed by data. And it makes a clear argument: 📵...
about 1 year ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, The plan was simple: Get the kid to school, survive the morning chaos, and finally enjoy a quiet coffee break. And yet, somehow, I found myself — coffee in one hand, phone in the other — deep in Instagram world, scrolling past travel inspo, kitchen hacks, and yes... chubby baby videos. Lots of them. At first, it felt great — like a tiny hit of joy after a long morning. But an hour later (yes, an hour), I realized I’d fallen into the same rabbit hole I warn parents about all the...
about 1 year ago • 1 min read
Hi friends, So many of you asked me what I thought about Adolescence, the new Netflix docuseries. I watched it right away—and then I didn’t write anything for days. I couldn’t. I needed time. Because while the story was about a tragic crime, what gutted me most wasn’t the headlines or even the teen at the center. It was the parents. Their confusion. Their heartbreak. Their deep, human attempt to do the right thing... and still miss the signs. This week on the blog, I’m finally ready to talk...
about 1 year ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader Squadmate, It’s been a minute. Mr. Milchick Brings Balloons Honestly, I didn’t expect to be gone this long, but life does what life does. My family needed me. We’re in the thick of those launch years — two kids getting ready to fly the nest — and it has been thrilling, terrifying, and consuming all at once. I’ve also been putting in time volunteering at my kids’ school, applying what I know about screentime, learning from other parents, teachers, and, frankly, kids themselves....
about 1 year ago • 2 min read
Dear Reader, I'm having an absolute blast experimenting with ChatGPT! Thank you for the tremendous support and response to my email two weeks ago. It's been incredible to hear about your personal experiences with ChatGPT. It seems like some of your kids' schools are already in on this tech marvel, while others are still scratching their heads in utter cluelessness. Here is a secret that one of you let me in on— Poe! Quora's answer to the AI race. With Poe, we can bypass all those pesky...
about 3 years ago • 3 min read