How to Get Your Kids to HATE Being Still
We live in a go-go-go, do all the things!, over-scheduled, over-worked, over-caffeinated, and under-rested society. Anything less than full-steam-ahead is seen as wasting time. We are raising a generation of top-speed kids who cannot be still. And here’s how we’re doing it, folks!
1. Fill that schedule!
Wait, you have a free block of time on Tuesdays at four o’clock? What?! Don’t waste that slot!! Fill ‘er up!
2. Seek to eradicate boredom.
The last thing you want to hear is, “I’m bored!” so be sure to have entertainment on hand just in case. You want to keep those kids happy!
3. Be sure to hover!
Good parents know what is going on at all times and they seek to create activities and entertainment to keep those kiddos happy!
4. Remember that quiet time is for sleeping.
Don’t waste time! Being alone with yourself is so boring!
Do you want to get off of this roller coaster? Are you looking to break the cycle?
I honestly believe that we are raising a generation of children who will not know what to do with themselves when Mom and Dad stop scheduling everything for them. These kids have been over-booked for years, constantly receiving external validation for participation: trophies, ribbons, awards. When others stop planning activities for them, will these kids even know what they like to do? Will they know what they are good at? Will they know how to relax, to be still? Will they know how to be alone with themselves, or will they seek to repeat the cycle: filling every hour with something, anything.
How will a child learn what makes him truly, deeply happy if he’s never given the space to discover it for himself?
I think it’s extremely important to provide your child with plenty of opportunity, yes opportunity, to experience boredom. Boredom fuels creativity. Providing your child with plenty of space between all those must-dos and to-dos allows him space to grow, to learn about what he loves and what he loathes, and to discover those things that make him truly, deeply happy.
Do you think kids today are over-scheduled? Do you think boredom is important? Did you discover your passions in the space between? Share here!
Follow Cait Fitz @ My Little Poppies’s board Mindfulness for Children on Pinterest.
I think you are missing an important piece here, Cait. If you allow your children to fill “the time in between” with TV, video games, and computer games of their choice, you are NOT creating children who are able to sit still even though they technically are. You just “saved” time from organized activities where they would at least be spending time with other humans and gave it all away to electronic wasteland.
Ha ha ha!! How could I forget that electronic wasteland, Natalie??? 🙂
I make such a conscious effort not to fill all our time. We love out down time. I have so many friends who are go go go and i don’t know how they stand it!
I am an outgoing introvert, which means I like to go out and be with people, but I need a lot of downtown afterward. Our whole family are only children, which means we need huge amounts of personal space.Consequently, I sometimes feel like I err to far the other way. This summer we have been busy because we are trying out different homeschool groups and trying to find our homeschool tribe, but it hasn’t really been a comfortable busy. I really weigh activities on how excited he seems by the prospect of participation. He is pretty good about saying that he just wants to say home. 🙂 I think he takes after me a little.
I totally agree with you Cait! When we get too busy we tend to forget what makes us happy and the same goes for our children. I never hear those words ” Mom I’m board” because my 8 year old knows how to keep herself busy. She would just grab a cardboard box, cut it up and make dollhouses with stairs and slides from it. Children need to be board to get creative! I love your way of thinking and put your ideas with Brave Writer into my homeschooling. Thank you so much!