My awakening in November of 2017 has culminated in a deep recognition that I need to be a better father.

At the age of 18 months, I put both of my kids on tablets. Kids are noisy, disruptive and they need a lot of attention. Something like YouTube was a god-send (or so it seemed).

9 years later, my kids prefer the company of YouTube over my company. I'm boring. That hurts, obviously.

I realize when they were young, I put my hobbies and interests ahead of them. I disconnected from them first. Also, they have no memory of even wanting my attention. Now that they have grown, the earliest memories they have are being on YouTube. They know little else besides what they do at school.

Now, I want to reestablish that connection and bond with them. If I take their machines away, they will just hate me.

Do you have any suggestions?