Welcome back to our ABC framework for creating a healthy, meaningful spring break with your children. In part one, we explored Letter A: Allow Time—giving your child the gift of unstructured rest and the space to reconnect with their bodies.

Now, let’s dive into Letter B, which might be even more challenging for many of us.

Letter B: Be With Your Kids

When I say “be with your kids,” I mean be fully present.

This doesn’t mean you have to:

• Do everything with them
• Do everything for them
• Take off from work entirely
• Be in their face constantly

What Presence Looks Like in Real Life

I understand that we’re all working. Your spring break scenario might look like:

• Leaving your kids with a family member during the day, returning in the afternoon
• Having a babysitter watch them while you work
• Sending them to a spring break camp Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 4:30 PM, and only having afternoons together

That’s okay. The key is what happens when you ARE home with them.

Put Your Phone Away

Here’s the first thing I’m going to say, and I know it won’t be easy to hear:

We use our phones around our kids way, way, WAY over the limit.

The Mirror Test

When we complain about our children being on their phones too much, we need to first look in the mirror and ask ourselves honestly:

Am I a good role model when it comes to screens and phones?

Consider your own habits:

• Scrolling through Instagram
• Mindlessly browsing TikTok
• Checking multiple social media platforms
• Bringing work home after work hours
• Checking emails constantly

Maybe you’re not a social media scroller, but you bring your laptop home and continue working long after your official workday ends.

Drawing the Line

I’m here to remind you: When you’re done with work and you leave your office—or turn off your laptop if you work from home—that’s it for the day.

The rest of the afternoon and evening (those precious 5 hours) belong to a different part of your life.

Please, dare to be brave. Dare to believe you can claim your time:

• Your time with your children
• Your time for yourself

What True Presence Means

Being fully present doesn’t mean hovering over your child constantly or being in their face the entire time.

It means this: When you are home and around your child, they don’t see you on your phone or laptop.

The Nervous System Effect

Here’s what most parents don’t realize: when your child sees you without a device in your hand, their nervous system automatically begins to rest.

They rest in the knowing that:

• You are there with them fully
• Your mind is not kidnapped by a device
• You’re not a “zombified body” walking around doing dishes while mentally elsewhere
• They have your genuine attention available to them

A Cultural Challenge

In our culture of busyness and constant productivity—especially here in North America—I am begging you to dare:

Dare to set a limit.

Dare to draw a line between your working hours and your family hours.

Your child will be with you during your “non-working time.” Let’s call that what it really is:

• Personal time
• Family time
• Free time
• Me time
• Us time

Your Child’s Real Competition

Studies show that children nowadays are not competing with siblings for their parents’ attention anymore.

They are competing with the parent’s phone.

Think about that. Your child’s number one competitor for your attention is an inanimate object in your hand.

The Teenage Phone Problem Starts With Us

We are at fault when we start judging teenagers for always being on their phones.

Before pointing fingers at our teens, we need to ask ourselves:

As my child was growing up—before they became a teenager—what did I model in terms of phone usage when I was with them?

This isn’t about judgment. It’s an invitation to:

• Be more conscious
• Make more responsible choices
• Live healthier lives

This Is Healthy for You Too

Stepping away from work and devices isn’t just good for your children—it’s healthy for you as well.

The Struggle Is Real

I know it’s a struggle to shut off your work brain and activate other parts of yourself. I struggle with this too.

Interestingly, when I talk to my friends and colleagues in Europe, they do not struggle with this the way we do in North America. It’s a matter of culture, I know.

But that’s exactly why we have to be stronger than our environment.

We have to consciously choose differently, even when the culture around us pulls us toward constant productivity and availability.

Making Hard But Rewarding Choices

Being fully present requires making hard choices—but they are choices that are:

• Rewarding
• Conscious
• Responsible
• Healthy

What Your Child Deserves

Do not put your child in a situation where they have to compete for your attention because of:

• A screen
• Your work
• Your divided focus

Your child deserves your presence. Not your proximity while you scroll. Not your physical body in the room while your mind is elsewhere.

They deserve the real you—engaged, available, and genuinely there.

The Challenge

This spring break, commit to yourself:

When I am with my child, I will be fully present.

Put the phone in another room. Close the laptop. Let work emails wait. Give yourself permission to be unavailable to the world so you can be fully available to the people who matter most.

Your child’s nervous system will thank you. Your relationship will deepen. And you might just find that you needed this rest as much as they did.

Coming up next: Letter C in our ABC Spring Break framework. Subscribe to receive weekly parenting insights and the continuation of this series.