Play and chat with Vanessa Giguère: interview for the 5@8 Screen-Free Challenge

After studying fashion design, Vanessa fell into children's fashion, well before having kids of her own. Designing clothes is her job, but since 2011, she's first and foremost a mom! A self-confessed mamarazzi, she admits to taking JUST A LITTLE too many photos of her 2 kids. She loves cooking (read: eating!), creating and crafting (DIY literally runs in her veins.) An inveterate chatterbox, she'll gladly strike up a little chat with you if you take the time to approach her. We love this inspiring web writer at TPL Mom (in French)! Her Instagram account will surely inspire your screen-free 5@8s!   How many children do you have, and how old are they? 2 children, aged 7 1/2 and 5 1/4   How many screens do you have at home? 2 TVs, 1 tablet, 2 computers (the gamer dad's PC and the designer mom's Mac), and Mom and Dad each have a cell phone. Whew! That's a lot!   On a “normal” weekday, how many hours do you spend with your children? Depending on what time they wake up, I spend 1 to 2 hours with my kids in the morning, before they leave on the school bus. I work from home on Mondays and Fridays, so on those days I pick them up at school right at the end of classes, which gives us a good 4 hours together at the end of the day before bedtime. On the days I work at the office (Tuesday to Thursday), I get home a bit later, so we have about 2.5 hours together in the evening. Our total time together can therefore range from 3.5 to 6 hours a day.   How many hours a day do you spend on screens?  Possibly too many! I work on a computer, so for the sake of argument I'll only count the time spent in front of other types of screens. In the morning I check my emails on my cell, and during my half-hour lunch break I often wander over to Instagram. When I get home with the kids, I try to put my cell away until bedtime (yay for the 5@8 screen-free challenge!). The Moment app gives me an average of 2 hours a day on my cell (I'm not counting here the time I use it to listen to music or podcasts, since that's audio only), and I'll add to that a possible hour of Netflix in the evening with my sweetheart, for an average of 3 hours a day.   What habit have you lost because of (or thanks to) technology? I remember the days when my brain was a real phone book. I had such a good memory for the phone numbers (or pager numbers! haha) of all my friends in high school. Now I'm hopeless, hopeless, hopeless...   What's the one app you can't do without on your cell phone? I'm an Instagram fan, but since I took a 2-month break at the beginning of the year, I know full well that I CAN live without it. So I'd go with the Podcasts app. In the car or at work, I rarely listen to the radio. I far prefer podcasts for learning about feminist issues, discovering new artists, reflecting on parenting, in short, choosing content that speaks to me. And in second place (it's very close) I'd go with the Goodreads app. I love books, and since my memory has become so-so (see the point above), I love being able to save all the interesting titles I come across and build myself a to-read list that's way too long for the time I actually manage to set aside for reading! Ironic, I know!   Which app should you delete? Am I allowed to say “the app I deleted and don't miss at all”? Facebook. I removed it from my cell in March (when I also deactivated my account) and I've never felt the need to go back. Goes to show you can learn to do without anything, I suppose. You have to give yourself time to forge new habits and, above all, to unlearn our reflexes.   Is it hard to manage your own screen time?  It sure is! That said, my 2-month break from all forms of social media this year really opened my eyes to how much time I was spending on it, time I was happy to devote to other things during my break. Having time to read, to take an online course (okay, I was in front of a screen, but I was learning all kinds of things about botany), to draw, to create... It did me a world of good, and it makes me think every day about how I use my cell phone, which is literally always within reach.   Do you have a screen rule at home? No screens at the table, a rule my partner sometimes has a hard time following but that the kids are quick to point out to him! And I love watching them call him to order.    Are you more airplane mode or FOMO (fear of missing out)? I was in FOMO mode for a long time, but I learned that turning notifications off does me a world of good.  

Rapid-fire round:

   Your favourite board game? Right now, we really like strategy games, the kind that work the kids' logic and make them think for a moment before playing. At the top of the list, pretty much tied, are chess and the game “Battleship.” Since my youngest sometimes needs a little nudge to fully grasp the rules and not get too scattered, we usually form 2 parent-child teams. That way we can help them sharpen their strategy by giving them little tips along the way. My daughter asked to learn to play chess last year and, to our great surprise, our youngest is now interested too. It's nice to watch them observe the game and soak up the information, even though it isn't a board game designed specifically for kids.    Your favourite children's book? There are SO many! It's no accident that I created, with my kids, an Instagram account where we share our favourite finds in children's literature. Lately, I think it's the picture book “Le secret du rocher noir” that has stolen my heart.    Your favourite app for little ones? For Christmas, we bought the kids a shared gift, the Osmo game kit. I like that the apps are educational but, above all, that they call on kids' fine motor skills by combining the tablet with real pieces to handle on the table while playing on the screen. The concept is really interesting, and the coding game is especially fun for kids while also working their “noggin-ology,” as my daughter would say.    Your favourite family outing? Clearly a hike! A walk in nature is free, it grounds everyone, and it encourages us to slow down to observe and listen to what's around us. We almost always make wonderful discoveries, and the fresh air does everyone good.    The toy that can captivate your kids for hours? It's not really a toy but more of an activity: moon sand! The day I discovered and tested a very simple homemade recipe (flour and baby oil), my kids played, completely absorbed, for nearly 2 hours. I had never seen them so calm and focused. A sensory activity par excellence, and I'll admit even I am charmed by the soft, so-pleasant texture of the flour between my fingers. For an even more soothing effect, a few drops of lavender essential oil are just the thing! As for actual toys, I'd go with Legos. As part of the “5@8 Screen-Free Challenge,” Vanessa suggests playing and chatting during a FAMILY BOARD GAME NIGHT. Nothing complicated: pull out a game or two and play as a whole family. Fun guaranteed! For inspiration, here is her top 5 board games:

• Battleship, Janod
• Taïga, Foxmind
• Pictureka, Lauwers
• Snakes and Ladders, Djeco
• Batasaurux, Djeco (and all the other little Djeco card games!)

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