Helping families create healthier relationship with technology through research, storytelling, and practical strategies for parenting in the digital age.
Barbies, Bots… and a Bed I Miss in Hong Kong 🛏️
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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 I found myself simulating our family dinner table, testing out celebrity parents, and even chatting with a imaginary “boyfriend from camp.” My oldest tried it too. What surprised me wasn’t just what these bots can do, but what they quietly replace. I pulled together my thoughts in this latest post: If you’ve got kids at home (or scattered across time zones, like me), I hope it sparks a conversation — maybe even over your real dinner table. More soon — and sending a deep exhale from wherever you’re reading this. School will be back before we know it, so let’s all start practicing our teacher “thank-yous” now! Warmly, P.S. Hit reply and tell me where your summer has taken you — I’d love to hear. |
The Infinite Screentime Movement Newsletter
Helping families create healthier relationship with technology through research, storytelling, and practical strategies for parenting in the digital age.
Hey Reader, Over the past few years, I’ve had hundreds of conversations about screens. With parents.With kids.With educators. In living rooms.In schools.In group chats that somehow turn into therapy sessions. And what I’ve noticed is this: The most meaningful moments are not when someone gives the “right” answer. They’re when someone tells the truth. The messy truth.The unsure truth.The “I don’t know if I handled that right” truth. Because that’s where connection happens. Not in perfection....
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...
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...