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No . . . stop being their assistants and social directors, and actually allow them some freedom to GO OUTSIDE, and to decide on their own activities . . . stop micro-managing them to be clones of you and your values - let them be them - and discover themselves and support them in doing what they want to do.
I was always sent outside to play. We had a fenced backyard and I had a swing set, slide, sandbox and a little tent I could put up to play in. I was an only child and there were only 3 kids my age in my immediate neighbourhood so I spent a lot of time playing by myself and inventing my own fun.
I will never forget the time when visiting friends whose daughter was 3. She was playing tea party on her own iPad, tapping away on the screen, while her collection of dolls and her play tea set sat 10 feet away in a corner.
I really believe kids need to be allowed the freedom to invent and create from their own minds, not just participating in structured activities and using electronics that entertain for them while they sit passively.
My daughter has a friend who brings his I-pad to birthday parties and his parents let him do this. But then complain that he does not have any social skills.
No . . . stop being their assistants and social directors, and actually allow them some freedom to GO OUTSIDE, and to decide on their own activities . . . stop micro-managing them to be clones of you and your values - let them be them - and discover themselves and support them in doing what they want to do.
Exactly. Plus don't you get sick of parents who spend all of their time ferrying their kids around whining about being busy? Not having your kid constantly scheduled doesn't make you a bad parent.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PriscillaVanilla
My daughter has a friend who brings his I-pad to birthday parties and his parents let him do this. But then complain that he does not have any social skills.
You know, I was never bored as a child because I was a reader. If I wasn't doing something fun like biking or playing with other kids outside, I was reading. I am not sure how the boredom itself is useful. What is and was useful was being able to figure out different creative things to do.
I agree that the useful part is allowing kids the time, space to be able to figure out different and creative things to do rather then expect to be entertained and kept busy by someone else all of the time. Boredom can be very useful in that regard.
If you had them, you'd realize that they are not tiny 30-year-olds with fully developed brains and senses of self. They need direction and structure, because a 7-year-old doesn't understand why they can't play with a tablet for 15 hours a day.
A parent's job is to provide those things, anything else is dereliction of duty.
Except I do have kids, so what now?
Pet peeve: So many ignorant people everywhere.
My advice was to stop micro-managing them - nowhere did I say anything about tablets . . .
My grand-daughter get entertained all the time by someone when she's at home with her mother and father. Even my husband (her grandfather) will try to keep her busy doing things when we look after her.
Me? I try to balance things with a bit of attention mixed with doing things on her own... letting her play on her own with her toys and dolls when she's with me. That's how I raised our two boys and they are well-rounded adults in their 30's.
Kids SHOULD learn to entertain themselves to develop imagination, creativity and self worth IMO.
I think there is merit to this idea, as boredom will drive children to find some way to use their time and entertain themselves. However I think it's important to consider what options they have available to fill their time. Giving them healthy outlets to expend their energy and entertain themselves (perhaps things like sports, reading, music, art etc.) can help them to develop useful skills and interests, however if you simply leave them be with no positive outlets you may not like how they end of spending their time.
Gosh one of the running jokes in my family was my two brothers...
Both active in every sport imaginable during the week. They lived for sports....from cross country to basketball. Each saturday they would sleep in til 1 pm.Drag themselves out of bed. Plop themselves on the couch. Then after eating three heaping bowls of cereal.Would look drearily at the other. Saying...Hey George...Or Neil.....What we gonna do today.....??? Then for about an hour they'd yawn...and putz around the house...til up to bed they would go....To Rest!!
the rest of us always enjoyed that Little saturday routine....there were 6 kids....so someone had to entertain us!
There is a difference between decompressing after a harried week for kids....yet I cannot find any good coming from boredom....
Serenity is not the same as boredom.
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I disagree with the article.
Why is school so boring? Let me rephrase that, why are some teachers so very boring? Why should we accept being forced to sit and listen to someone drone on and on, wasting our precious life, because they don't have the skills to pique our interest? (I do note, some subjects are going to be boring. But don't accept that school in general is supposed to boring kid, get used to it, because get ready, the rest of your life is going to be boring too).
Given free time, I'm never, ever bored. If I'm forced to sit in a training, where I already know the material being taught, and forced to appear to be paying attention the whole time (that is, I can't whip out out a book or strike up an interesting conversation with another participant), I can become bored to the point of being angry.
On the other hand, I'm thrilled to say that my children and siblings and husband are never bored, if we are given freedom to amuse ourselves.
And I really find people who quickly say "I'm bored" just because no one/nothing is amusing them right now annoying. "I'm bored, there's nothing to do". REALLY? Find something to amuse yourself. Get up and do something.
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