Remember the joy of seeing family that you love hanging out with?
Or cuddling in a blanket?
Or hugging someone you really appreciate?
The world is full of so much JOY.
Joy is from a chemical called oxytocin. Our body is like a fish tank of chemicals, and oxytocin is in charge of our JOY.
So every time a baby is born, or when people get married, that’s the feeling Oxytocin allows us to experience!
The opposite of that is what it looks like when we take away a screen from a kid.
This is from Cortisol and Dopamine dump from the screen, and then you take away the source of that PLEASURE download. While watching a screen, your child is getting flooded with intense chemicals, and then we take this away and you watch the explosion happen.
Let’s think back to when you were a kid.
What were the things that brought you JOY before the screen age?
Maybe taking walks with parents or friends, spending time with loved ones, making dinner together. Anything done in a loving, JOY filled way!
This is our hack for the holidays. Replace convenient pleasure dumps with JOY.
Instead of getting upset when your kids get upset for taking away their chemical dump toy, give them a hug. Tell them how much you love them.
Joy wins over pleasure every time.
