I see workmates who's kids consistently facetime and watch TV on their phones and tablets throughout the day. They aren't ever challenged to do nothing or find entertainment outside of a screen. I wonder what kind of impact that will have on them as they get older.

This was my childhood. I was constantly surrounded by video games and TV when I was at home. At school there was pretty much a zero tolerance policy. Phones were allowed in middle/highschool but I didn't have one. What resulted was me reading a lot in school and then playing video games at home.

I feel that I have a relatively normal life.

As for the dino thing, that's kind of neat. I don't like the idea of lying to kids though. I definitely didn't like being lied to. That's part of the reason that I got so addicted to the internet and computers. I couldn't stand mis-informed people or people who lied. So I started fact checking. If there's nothing on what you said, you better come up with proof. And just like that, Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, religion, and all sorts of other bullshit just vanished from my life. The dino thing (had it been done to me) would have been gone as well.

Which is why when (if) I have kids, I'll be honest with them. Whatever they want to know, I'll tell them. I hated not having the knowledge that I was curious about. And I'd hate to see my kids in that position. My parents didn't tell me shit. As a result I hardly knew anything about banks, buying shit, hospitals, health management, loans, credit cards, buying movie tickets, pretty much anything that I didn't have to do. And when I did have to do those things, I was on my own and had to wing it. Which resulted in huge anxiety problems whenever a new situation arises. I wouldn't wish this on anyone.