Battling like many parents to limit kids' digital obsession while at the same time trying to teach financial education and anti-consumerism.
On Saturday I played Monopoly with sons (12 and 9) for the first time in over a year. On Sunday, after their designated hour of device time was over, they challenged me to another game. If one of them won, they got unlimited screen time the rest of the day. If I won, they each owed me $10.
Game on. I was ruthless, giving no pointers. Still, it's tough to win 2-on-1 Monopoly. Our 12-year-old went out first. But I made a final stand with hotels on the St. Charles/Virginia Ave. pink properties, extending the game to more than three hours before folding at 5 p.m. The 9-year-old was proud of himself, but between dinner and bedtime (it was a Sunday), they didn't get much more screentime. More importantly, they took Monopoly a lot more seriously and the 9-year-old in particular now sees the analogy between the game and our rental property.