Whether it be Christmas vacation, spring break, or summer break, it's almost inevitable that before it's over, you'll hear a few sighs of “I’m bored.” “There’s nothing to do.” “There’s no one to play with.”, or these days, complete silence that you dare not interrupt because they are so engrossed in some sort of screen ‘entertainment’.
If you read this blog with any sort of regularity, you know I don’t usually write about things like bedtime routines, homework, toilet training and things of that nature. I’m more about the emotional and mental aspects of parenting; self-confidence, respect, responsibility, kindness, and so forth. Or as the tag line says, “…getting to the heart of parenting from the heart”. But today I'm going to blend the two, because today I want to talk about the how and why of not catering to your child’s every whim and whimper.
Newsflash! It’s not going to hurt them to be bored once in a while! That’s right—they will survive and in all likelihood, they’ll have a blast doing it.
When my kids were younger and would give me the “I’m bored” routine, I would tell them to go outside and ride their bikes, go catch tadpoles, weed two rows of the garden, build a fort, play games, read a book, or to go find as many different kinds of leaves, rocks, or whatever else they could find. One time I even told my oldest to take the video recorder (yah that was in the old days) and make a film about a day in the life of our family.
FYI: That video will forever be an epic classic. J
What I didn’t do was put the rest of the world on hold to find out what they believed would cure their boredom and make sure it happened. In other words, I made them fix the problem—to become their own solution. And because of that, we have an epic family film, we had lots of interesting pets, forts under massive cedar trees became the place memories were made and secrets were shared, tumbling routines were perfected so they could be performed countless times for Granny and anyone else who was willing (or forced LOL) to watch, silly games were played, miles and miles and miles were put on bicycle tires, big brother built a rope swing for him and his sisters, and on and on the list could go. There were also a lot of things done that shouldn’t have been, but none of them were too serious and they all lived, so….
FYI: About the only thing they didn’t take me up on was weeding the garden. But hey, you can’t blame a mom for trying, can you?
Now I don’t want you to think my kids were allowed (or made) to fend for themselves all day, every day. No way! We spent a big part of each day playing, swimming, doing crafts, doing chores, reading, and just being a family.
But let’s be both realistic and honest. We can’t, and shouldn't entertain our kids 24/7. There’s a reason they learn to walk, feed themselves, take care of their own bathroom duties, and so forth. It’s called growing up and being independent, which is exactly what they are supposed to do. And part of that process is learning how to manage their time wisely and productively.
Yes, it is your job as a parent to set boundaries for their solutions to being bored, and yes, it is your job to make sure their solutions are safe and acceptable. In the process of doing that this summer, though, make sure the solutions to the problem of boredom teach them something—either about themselves or how to do something new.
Don’t let them settle. No, don’t allow them to settle for staring at a screen or being a video game recluse. Get them up and moving, learning, experiencing, and growing.
Love,
Momma D
Copyright 2018 Darla Noble. No part of this can be used or copied without permission from the author.
Copyright 2018 Darla Noble. No part of this can be used or copied without permission from the author.
