From managing screen time to AI privacy concerns with my 5-year-old

Thanks again to everyone who gave me such great advice on my last post about raising my 5-year-old in our 4-language family!

I wanted to share a new challenge I'm facing: screen time. I don't know if your 3–5-year-olds are the same, but mine literally won't sit still at the table unless there's a cartoon playing on the phone. It's the only way to get him to stay in his seat and eat properly. I really hate doing it, but without it, meals drag on forever or he barely eats at all. It's a habit I've been wanting to break for a long time. So when I found a language app called Capwords about two months ago, I thought it might be a way to redirect his screen time into something more active.

The idea was to let him use the phone camera to learn. He loved it at first! He had a blast taking pictures of everything in our home, turning them into digital "stickers," and learning the words. It was a huge win to see him so curious and engaged instead of just passively watching videos.

But as he was busy snapping photos of our home, a new concern hit me: AI privacy. This has left me with two big questions:

How private are these AI apps? What happens to all the photos of my home? Are they uploaded to a cloud, and is that data secure?

How do you keep a positive learning app engaging long-term? The initial novelty was great, but I'm wondering how to maintain his interest after the newness wears off.

I'd love to hear if other parents think about this or have any strategies for keeping educational apps fun. Thanks!