As parents, we can’t believe our ears. The kids have only been out of school for a few weeks and they’re already whining, “I’m bored. There’s nothing to do!”

Years ago you could give a kid a spoon and a bucket and you wouldn’t see them for two weeks; if you gave them a jack knife and a rock, they would come back with tales of Robinson Crusoe; and if they had a cape and a box, they would put on musicals for the neighborhood that rivaled Broadway Productions. I guess times have changed… but, why?

Here’s my take. A large part of all this is because many parents feel they have to keep their children entertained from the moment they arrive on the planet!

Today’s parents spend all day moving infants from bouncy chair to bouncy chair. When that doesn’t keep a child “happy” anymore, they put them on their backs with those bars over head so they can swat the little toys back and forth; after three swats the little munchkin starts to squirm and make noise, so we roll them onto their stomachs. That lasts all of 60 seconds, so then we pick them back up and rock them, bounce them, hold them, look at them… and on and on it goes.

Bored? Of course these kids are easily bored! As soon as they let out a whimper and whine, instead of waiting a few minutes and letting the children find something more interesting to do, we pick them up and start all over again.

Parental Newsflash: your kids are bored because they have never been given the chance to learn how to entertain themselves. In fact, you might say they’ve been paralyzed by years of pampering. And here’s the best part…

At some point we, being the geniuses who created the problem in the first place, decide that our kids are somehow, all of a sudden, old enough to entertain themselves, and it’s no longer our job to entertain them anymore. That’s when the chorus of “I’m bored!” begins and we, though infinitely wise, throw our hands in the air wondering why.

Okay, if you’ve read this far and are still with me, you see that the parent has played a big role in creating the boredom “problem”. Now, the question is, what can we do to solve it. Here are a few ideas and a tip or two you may want to try.
Boredom Isn’t so Boring After All

First, it’s important to realize that boredom, real or perceived, isn’t such a bad thing. Kids need “space” in order to tap into their creative side and discover and develop their own brilliance. It’s often only in those bored moments that they can explore their imagination, find out who they are and what they want to do, or just learn to rely on themselves and their own ingenuity to pass the time.

So the next question is how do you go from being the entertainer to empowering your children to deal with boredom in their own way? Try this…

The next time your kids say “I’m bored,” try asking them how they want to solve that problem. If they say they don’t know, get out a big piece of paper, make a list of all the “honey do” jobs you can think of, as well as all the activities that they can do without parental involvement, and ask them to pick the three they want to start with. You’ll be surprised how many kids can solve the boredom problem when given the opportunity.

The Parenting On Track™ Home Program can help you to bridge the gap between entertaining and empowering because it focuses on

• Teaching children how to entertain themselves instead of being entertained
• Teaching children how to develop self-control instead of being controlled
• Teaching children how to motivate themselves instead of being motivated by outside rewards
• Teaching children how to identify what they believe in instead of going along with the group because they had never been asked their opinion
• Teaching children how to develop self-discipline instead of waiting to be disciplined

With the steady development of all these skills, your children will be ready to solve the “problem” of boredom and so many other challenges in their daily lives which, by the way, is excellent training for any future adult!