I just came accross this Family Media Use Plan that allows everyone in the family to create a time budget for everyone's daily obligations including school, sport, personal hygiene, reading, homework, chores, screen time, etc. 

When media is used thoughtfully & appropriately, media can enhance daily life. But when used inappropriately or without thought, media can displace many important activities such as face-to-face interaction, family-time, outdoor-play, exercise, unplugged downtime & sleep.

By creating a Personalized Family Media Use Plan, you can be aware of when you are using media to achieve your purpose. This requires parents & users to think about what they want those purposes to be. The tool below will help you to think about media & create goals & rules that are in line with your family’s values.

Looks like fun! At a minimum going through this planning exercise with your family will certainly remind you that there are only 24 hours in a day. Accounting for school and sleep does force one to decide how to spend the rest of one's day.

Like any budget, adjustments and changes in valuation are allowed.

Try this with you young children and adolescents and let me know what results in your family.

Dr. T

These are some interesting web links & news items:

A great meal goes beyond having all the right dishes. Cooking safely and knowing when to throw out leftovers is a must for any dining occasion.

Test your food safety knowledge by taking this quiz.

This is important information: Longer antibiotic treatment better for young children with ear infectionsResearchers examined 520 children ages 6 months to 23 months with acute middle ear infections and found that 16% of those who received the antibiotic amoxicillin-clavulanate for 10 days had treatment failure, compared with 34% of those who received the five-day regimen. The findings in The New England Journal of Medicine also showed worse symptoms among those who received the shorter regimen and similar rates of diarrhea and diaper rash between both groups.

A Family Media Use PlanThe AAP offers a new Family Media Use Plan interactive tool to help families create a personalized plan to manage their screen time and media use. Available at HealthyChildren.org/MediaUsePlan, this tool represents a core recommendation in the AAP's policy statements on media use for toddlers, children and teens. Please enjoy this tool to formulate your plan for electronic media exposure for your kids.

Have you booked your trip? It's a great time to plan a trip. But whether you are visiting family and friends or taking a vacation, there are always health risks to keep in mind. That's why the CDC wants to make sure you stay healthy and Zika-free during your travels and once you return home. Travel should be enjoyable and stress-free. Give yourself one less thing to worry about and sign up for Zika updates today.

Text PLAN to 855-255-5606        For more information on Zika and travel, visit cdc.gov/travel