Boredom, Shmoredom

I think I have heard more talk about summer boredom than I can stomach lately. Parents are complaining that they need to find stuff for their kids to do while they’re out of school because they need to keep them from feeling b-o-r-e-d. First of all, my kids may feel bored on occasion but they certainly wouldn’t voice it because they know they would be given a list of chores as long as their arms. But, let’s say, perchance, that the odd day appears when there is absolutely no task to do around the house, no friend in sight, nary a book to read or paper to draw and write on, and an alien has come and sucked every bit of creative thought out of their little heads. What to do? What to do?

Schedule Overload
Being booked solid every day is often the precursor of boredom. In our current society, we keep our kids busier than your average CEO. They wake up early, get started on their hourly schedule at school, come home to more homework or after-school activities, and then manage to wolf down some food before they climb into bed to start it all over again. They hardly have a moment for creative thought. If they have a great idea or an awesome project, it has to wait until their endless list of “must dos” are crossed off. When summer comes, if they are not involved in some morning-to-night day camp, they are suddenly left with empty space that they have no idea how to fill. Unfortunately, it’s always been filled for them. Try lightening the load a bit and watch those neurons start firing.

The Screen Drain
Children in America watch an average of three hours of television daily (American Academy of Pediatrics). That’s almost one day out of a week devoted to nothing but TV. And that’s just a part of the screen time. Kids are spending more and more time playing video games and surfing the Internet. Basically, huge portions of their lives are consumed with a screen. They are beginning to spend more time living virtual lives instead of real ones. And this screen drain is much more likely to pull creativity out of them, rather then promote it. Why should they think? It’s all been done for them. Instead of letting them fill up their brains with stuff of little or no value, turn off the tube and help them tune into real life. How? Read on!

Tools, Not Toys
If there is one thing that American children don’t need more of, it’s toys. I remember when I was a child, I had three baby dolls and I was the talk of the neighborhood (of course, they were all hand-me-downs from my three sisters. One didn’t even have hair, just a scalp full of holes where it used to be). Today, girls have to collect every one of the American Girl dolls or else they’re missing out on life, as the advertisers put it. I had a big wheel when I was a child (which my four other siblings shared with me). Today, kids have to have battery-powered motorized cars that rival a Prius. Because of this, many children demonstrate little or no sense of delayed gratification or self-sufficiency. They don’t need any more toys that come with an instruction manual of what to do and what not to do. They do, however, need more tools. They need rope and wood. They need thread and needles. They need paper, pencils, cloth, scissors, glue, and nails. They need to be given the tools to build the dreams and then the space and time to make those dreams a reality. They don’t need more stuff.

Home Work
If there is still a hint of boredom, then how about the homework that really does matter? The other day, I talked with a friend who has had four of her kids stripping wallpaper for a week. Now that’s work that pays off! Those kids are going to know the value of effort and the gratifying results of hard work. There are always tasks to do around the house for children. They need to know that a happy, fulfilling home doesn’t just happen. It’s a result of a family working together. Go ahead and put in a new sidewalk or paint a room. Let the kids get dirty, let them make mistakes, and let them fix them. These are the life lessons that really matter. So, the next time one of the kids complains of boredom – show them a spade and a shovel and teach them where flowers come from.