This is possibly every parent’s most hated phrase, especially after a long day of working and looking after your home and children, but how should we handle it?
Personally, I recall being almost painfully bored as a child, feeling lonely, frustrated and unwanted because I had few friends to play with and my parents did not think engaging with me was necessary (note – this was the 70s!).

Luckily, times have changed and parents today are more actively engaged with their offspring, planning activities from morning until night, arranging play dates, and ensuring their little ones are never without something constructive and, dare I say, educational to do. But is this a good thing?

Stimulate imagination

In spite of my early experiences, I realise that being bored was what stimulated my imagination, which created the writer and artist, performer and counsellor within me. The simple necessity of finding something with which to occupy my time led me to think deeply, imagine wildly and express in any way I could, something which today’s kids might just be missing out on.

In this day and age, our kids are constantly busy, whether attending sports practice or music lessons, as we buy into the current model of thinking that this encourages competition from the moment they are born. It’s exhausting!

Allow for downtime

I propose that in this fast-paced, highly busy modern world, we allow for downtime, even structured ‘nothing to do’ spaces within our day to allow our kids to actually feel bored and need to find something for themselves.

In searching and finding, they will naturally begin to choose and show preferences, indicating what they enjoy or are particularly adept at. It is in this space that youngsters might kick a ball around and find a love for football, or throw shapes in the kitchen and discover a love for dance – long before we even consider signing them up to classes after school.

Our introvert children can discover a deep love of reading and, in time, writing stories of their own, if given the space to discover books that they love. A bored child with a box of household junk (safe junk, of course) will possibly discover a skill for construction, problem solving and creativity that they never knew they had!

Find moments to rest

As a parent, you will find moments to simply rest or observe without engaging; giving yourself time to do what you need to do by introducing the concept of boundaries, privacy and not being constantly available to fulfil every whim on command. A vital step in developing self-reliant children with confidence and patience.

So before you rush to fill in every available slot on the calendar with classes and clubs, why not consider the benefits of some structured downtime, and the opportunity for your child to discover a little more about themselves and the world around them?