Let them get bored

 

Today when we get bored, we have or know lot of things to do like:

•      We read books, articles, newspapers and so on.
•          We go for a walk or go cycling
•          Some of us love to write. So we even pen down our views / thoughts.
•          Some of us even dance on loud music.
•         Some make such beautiful paintings in their boredom.
•         Some invent new recipes which are so delicious. Many more such activities that all of us indulge into.

BUT,

Ever wondered what our kids will do if they were in our place?

The answer is: they would either watch TV or play on iPads, mobiles, tablets and other gadgets.

Why is it necessary to always plan something or the other for our child? Why is it that we have to think whether they will like or dislike a particular activity?

In holidays, I have seen most of the moms sign up their kids for summer camps. In spite of attending 6 to 8 hours of school, yet they enroll kids for all sorts of classes. Upon asking few of them, I have most common replies:

1.       I am a working mom. I don’t have extra time to spend it with her. So its better she goes for some activity to “keep herself busy”.

2.       I don’t have the patience to entertain him for 4 hours until he goes to bed.

3.       He gets bored after coming from school. So its better he goes for some classes.

Just think this way. Years back, when we were young or in our teens, did our parents think the same way as we do today? We ALSO GOT BORED. But it is during this boredom, we learnt to grow.

·       When we went out for family gatherings, we also got bored. But we learnt to interact with everyone whether elder or younger than us.

·       There were days when we could not step out of the house and we got bored. But we knew what all games or activities to look for at home.

·       I used to finish having dinner well before time than my cousins. But I had to wait until they finished theirs so that we could play again. I got bored waiting for them. This gave me a chance to talk to others around and helped me to kill my boredom.

·       Our parents did have a had social life. They too had friends and relatives coming over. They would get busy with them. We got thoroughly bored. BUT we learnt to go in the room and play some game on our own.

I am not comparing full fledged between us and our kids. Yes, we have moved forward a lot but we need to think seriously on this. If we don’t let our child get bored and then how is he/ she going to be able to decide what all can he/she do to pass by their boredom. It is high time that we stop entertaining them all the time. We must stop planning their days and weeks in advance.

It is absolutely OK for kids to get bored. Boredom is one of the important factors of our lives. It is when we get bored; we get into a thinking process. Boredom is scientifically linked to creativity. It is the wandered mind which helps people to “think out of the box”. Research has shown that boredom can inspire the mind to have a creative solution to most of the problems. Since, most of us don’t like to get bored for too long, we tend to get motivated to seek out new goals and experiences.