Sarah Michelle Gellar Says There’s ‘No Roadmap’ for Parenting in the Cellular Age [Exclusive]
Sarah Michelle Gellar may be best know for her work in Buffy The Vampire Slayer, True Intentions, All My Children, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and The Wolf Pack. However the one role she’s proudest of and finds her most challenging, has been motherhood. Gellar says parenting in the cellular age is tough, and that parents have “no roadmap” to navigate these unchartered waters.
Sarah Michelle Gellar believes its important for families to ‘unplug’
Sarah Michelle Gellar is partnering with UScellular to encourage phone users to participate in Global Day of Unplugging on Friday, March 1. She discussed how she works healthy boundaries into her own screen time and that of her children, daughter Charlotte and son Rocky.
Gellar believes in the importance of unplugging and how living in the moment is more important than catching up on the latest social media post. “I think it’s very hard. There’s no roadmap for us as parents,” Gellar admits.
“Every year like it, this is the hardest, the hardest stage but I genuinely really feel like this is now for us. Because we don’t have parents we can ask or answer anyone that’s been through this and how did you navigate this because this is the new frontier so it’s really a trial and error.”
In the home Gellar shares with husband Freddie Prinze Jr., kids do not get a phone until they are headed to middle school. She said it was unrealistic to “expect our kids to be able to self regulate their screen time.”
“I love with UScellular is doing with the idea of a Global Day of Unplugging,” she explains. “When you take that step back you reset it’s the same reason we take a vacation if we can or we go to a spa or we take a hot bath at night, right? Those are our resets and those are the moments when you’re like, oh, okay, maybe I am spending too much time on my phone.”
She and husband Freddie Prinze Jr. set healthy boundaries for their 2 children
Of all the things a parent can do, says Sarah Michelle Gellar, setting healthy boundaries is one of the most important. That goes for not only phone usage but other aspects of parenting.
Gellar said that there are no phones at the dinner table. This is a rule she and her husband set an example with for Charlotte and Rocky.
“There’s no phones at the table. You just don’t bring your device to the table,” she stresses.
As a family, the Gellar/Prinze crew always finds time to eat together. However, when that’s not possible and one member has to eat later than the rest of the family, one member will sit with that person and talk with them.
“My daughter is a competitive dancer. So she dances really late and we make sure that when she comes home and eats on those nights that one of us is always sitting with her at the dinner table. It’s important to have that one-on-one contact.”
Gellar concludes, “We also watch television as a family together. I think its important to find those moments to bond outside of technology.
Sarah Michelle Gellar believes being over-connected can impact mental health
The Wolf Pack star believes in the importance of being connected. However, she also feels that being over-connected can impact one’s mental health. Gellar believes unplugging is critical to enjoy the world outside of one’s phone, iPad or computer.
“UScellular’s commitment to encourage people and offer resources to help create healthy boundaries with their technology really resonated with me,” said Sarah Michelle Gellar. “Many of us have experienced the toll of being over-connected to devices which can impact our self-esteem and mental health.”
She continued, “As a parent, I think it’s especially important to be a role model for our children. And make sure we are making space from distractions to connect with what matters most – family and friends.”
On the other hand, she is also grateful to have not grown up in the digital age. She says, “I think about kids today. If I was in school, and I didn’t get invited to a party. Maybe I heard about it on Monday morning but by then it was over and I didn’t care.”
Sarah Michelle Gellar encourages cellphone users to participate in the Global Day of Unplugging on March 1.
