Drawing the line! Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard share their thoughts on screen time, temper tantrums and more.
The couple try to “plan ahead” when it comes to letting Israel, 5, and Samuel, 3, watch TV. “We take the advice of our pediatrician and don’t go beyond, like, two hours a day,” the accountant, 32, recently told Us Weekly exclusively.
His wife, 29, chimed in, “We try to limit any in some days to, like, zero screen time, especially if the weather is really nice. But there are times where it might be more than two hours a day, but I can justify it in my head if I’m like, ‘Well, the last two days they didn’t have any screen time.’ It’s not good, but I’m not going to get too hung up on just the nitty gritty and lose my mind because they had four hours of screen time today.”
![Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard Share Parenting Dos and Don’ts](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Jill-Duggar-and-Derick-Dillard-Share-Parenting-Dos-and-Donts.jpg?w=1000&quality=86&strip=all)
As for temper tantrums, the former reality stars are big fans of letting their sons cool down in their bedrooms when they get riled up.
“They get to a certain level where they can’t function,” the 19 Kids and Counting alum explained to Us. “They can’t reason at all. It’s like, ‘OK, go to your room until you’re ready to make good choices or until you’re ready to come and sort things out.”
The pair work hard to maintain “limits” in their parenting — particularly when it comes to showing PDA in front of their kids. “It’s healthy depending on what the affection is,” Dillard said. “Hugging, kissing, holding hands. Yes.”
![Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard Share Parenting Dos and Don’ts](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Jill-Duggar-and-Derick-Dillard-Share-Parenting-Dos-and-Donts-02.jpg?w=1000&quality=86&strip=all)
When they’re upset with each other, the former TLC personalities make sure to resolve their arguments in front of their children. “That way, they don’t develop an unrealistic expectation of marriage,” Duggar explained. “As long as they know in the end we love each other and are on the same page.”
The couple tied the knot in June 2014 after one year of courting. They went on to welcome Israel and Samuel in 2015 and 2017, respectively.
Watch the video above to hear more of the parenting compromises Duggar and Dillard have made over the years, from having meltdowns to responding to social media trolls.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi