I find its other parents that make it hard in dealing with screens and pop culture. Things that I have never shown my son he knows about. One of his friends dads is obsessed with comic books and marvel movies or whatever. So my kid comes away talking non stop about these characters. I don't let him play at other kids homes unless I know their parenting extremely well. Most kids are raised by barely functioning adults these days, so I have to be careful.
Movie nights with friends are hard as well. It sucks being the dad who says no to fucking cartoon, but 99% of the movies out there these days are toxic to little boys, even if they don't quite know it yet. My wife says that this means that WE have take the movie night initiative and book the theatre room so we can choose the video. Not being a fan of most of the dads in the neighborhood makes this a tough choice.
From my perspective, the best thing we do is have our meals together as a family. No phones allowed, no TV meals. We sit together, talk, laugh and tell stories. We finish together as well, so no kids bouncing to play until everyone is done. They can sit on laps, but no one leaves until the meal - and not just food - is finished.
Movie nights with friends are hard as well. It sucks being the dad who says no to fucking cartoon, but 99% of the movies out there these days are toxic to little boys, even if they don't quite know it yet. My wife says that this means that WE have take the movie night initiative and book the theatre room so we can choose the video. Not being a fan of most of the dads in the neighborhood makes this a tough choice.
From my perspective, the best thing we do is have our meals together as a family. No phones allowed, no TV meals. We sit together, talk, laugh and tell stories. We finish together as well, so no kids bouncing to play until everyone is done. They can sit on laps, but no one leaves until the meal - and not just food - is finished.