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Forum -> Parenting our children
Is this a parents responsibility?



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amother
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Post Mon, Aug 16 2021, 3:40 pm
Is it a parents responsibility to entertain their kids ie to keep them from being bored?

Especially these days between camp and school. I think that they had weeks of entertainment and now it's time for them to just be and figure this out for themselves.
We have plenty of crafts and toys and book. We have a front and back yard.
Apparently everyone else is going on vacations and on trips daily.
That's not gonna work for us this year.

Am I supposed to be the activity director?
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NotInNJMommy




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Aug 16 2021, 3:43 pm
Strictly speaking, no.
I find some guided direction/suggestion or just leaving the house can prevent things devolving into fights among the kids. I think it's more reasonable for younger kids to get some suggestions, etc., maybe a new coloring book, remind them there's play doh, etc. For older kids, one idea I heard, but haven't tried yet, is giving chores, particularly if they start to stir up trouble or complain of being bored.
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Zehava




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Aug 16 2021, 3:46 pm
Generally speaking no, boredom is healthy.
But practically speaking if you just leave them to boredom day after day without friends or any activities you might need to remodel your house and/or go on vacation afterwards.
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lamplighter




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Aug 16 2021, 3:48 pm
Will kids figure it out on their own eventually?

Never let mine go long enough bc of the fighting but I always wonder.....
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Zehava




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Aug 16 2021, 3:51 pm
lamplighter wrote:
Will kids figure it out on their own eventually?

Never let mine go long enough bc of the fighting but I always wonder.....

Yes you just may not like what they come up with
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amother
Indigo


 

Post Mon, Aug 16 2021, 3:56 pm
In an ideal world, kids would have the skills necessary to entertain themselves for long stretches of time without parental input. Being that we don’t live in an ideal world, that a lot of our kids lack skills for imaginative play, don’t have the emotional regulation or impulse control for unstructured time, are used to being entertained all the time, don’t have access to resources, space and the culture that allows them to explore and do whatever they want, in reality I try to strike a balance, we do some more structured things each day like an outing or craft activity, and we also have some downtime where everyone has to find what to do. Some kids are better at this than others. Some need to be taught and directed. If I find the situation disintegrating, I Will step in. Sometimes certain kids are literally not in a frame of mind (developmentally, emotionally, or just a temporary phase) to figure things out, and then we will keep things very structured for them. However, even in those situations, I try not to jump right in with a lineup of activities, I let them fumble around for a couple of minutes, and the suggestions are more in a btw, off hand way, rather than Handing it to them on a silver platter, just so they don’t become conditioned to the idea.
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amother
OP


 

Post Mon, Aug 16 2021, 4:03 pm
I think back to my childhood and my parents never took us out all the time and entertained us. We played. We fought. We built random stuff. I don't know.

We went on family trips on chil hamoed and sometimes on Sundays, but not a week and a half of them. My kids are making as if I am the worst mother in the world because I don't have trips and activities lined up daily.

When or how will they build the skills to be creative or figure things out if they're entertained all day long.

Maybe I'm wrong.
I don't know
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PinkFridge




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Aug 16 2021, 8:37 pm
Ah, August. When we went through freeze pops by the case, and I would reread Gordon Korman/Calvin and Hobbes/Foxtrot/Zits/other.
We went to a LOT of playgrounds and a LOT of libraries. I remember being in the backyard with the pool and sprinkler. But I wasn't the entertainment director as much as the facilitator.
Hatzlacha and stay sane, everyone.
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