**photo by Tifton, Domo bowling…Tif did this when he was bored…read on!
THIS IS AN EPICPARENT.TV RE-POST. FRIDAYS i AM TYPICALLY SPENDING TIME W/ TEAM SPRAD SO I TRY TO STAY DISCONNECTED…A PRACTICE WHAT I PREACH THING. IN 2011 FRIDAY’S WILL TYPICALLY BE A GUEST BLOGGER OR A RE-POST OF AN EPICPARENT.TV FAVORITE.
How Do You Typically Spend Your Day?
on your crack berry – working – taking care of babies – face book - Bible studies - working out
How Does Your Child, Spend His/Her Day?
texting – school – football – piano – student council – chess – youth group - cruising (do kids still do that)
As parents, we typically pass our busy, un-breathable schedules down to our kids…here is some simple parenting advice…
Stop The Madness & Bore Your Kids!!!
The world we live in today says…BE FASTER, TOUGHER, QUICKER, SMARTER, PRETTIER, MUSCLIER (don’t think this is a word), you get the idea…
I believe kids should be involved in activities; my kids do a few different things. However, I think parents should make a shocking, counter cultural, IRRATIONAL parenting move, and that is to BORE YOUR KIDS! Don’t always schedule them, turn off the TV, put away the phone, shut down X-box, friends don’t have to be over all the time, make them sit still….
Here is what I have found when I intentionally bore my kids…
CREATIVITY & INNOVATION THRIVES
Here are a few things that have been birthed out of boring my kids…
- My oldest has invented a new fly fishing product (hope to launch it next spring in Colorado)
- Tifton (my youngest) invents cartoon characters and storylines
- Kylie has started working on writing a couple of books
- They read God’s Word and spend time talking with him
- They color
- They ask a ton of questions about life
- They talk and play with each other
- Honestly, they are just happier, more engaged, considerate and real!
Will you consider boring your kids? If so, what will you take away first?
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My kids are supremely bored…we don’t watch but one TV show a week so if we are not at church, we are at home and they find plenty to do.
Saira-will try new hairstyles, or draw things for friends
Corey-Reads
Mandy-creates a wonderland of all her stuffed animals, or reads
Malachi-invents whatever he can out of whatever he has
Jamie-makes gifts for others by drawing/coloring pictures
If all of my 5 were involved in something other than school and church, we would be so stressed. We wouldn’t get to eat regular meals together. We wouldn’t know what’s going on in each other’s lives. I value the boring times because it’s when they are bored that they really start to use their brains!!
Carrie
My kids have some behavior issues that stem from things outside of there control. What is amazing is we don’t see near as many of these issues when we have bored time. I have gotten to the point as a parent where I HATE busy weeks. There are times where we have things that have to get done and we seem to run every day of the week…on those weekends we don’t leave the house. My girls are six and will ask for time at home now. That is when we connect and truly love on each other.
Great post Chris! This is one reason why we love camping. The interaction between the kids is totally different when the distractions of life are minimized. We need to be more intentional about doing it at home more often too.
I love this idea and it is interesting to see the creativity comes out of kids when they have to go outside of the box.
We were just talking about this last night on the way home from hockey – I was going to “plan for nothing days”. They were curious. I’m starting it tomorrow and hopefully for most of the weekend. Thanks for the post!!
Chris,
Excellent post, and hugely important. And personally, I can’t wait to see the new fly fishing product!