I'm Bored!! If you are the parent of a preschool aged child or older you have probably heard this annoying and dreaded statement at least once. These two annoying little words have the power to drive parents crazy. It is easy for parents to fall into the trap of trying to fill their children's time with activities and entertain them so they won't get bored. In fact, a recent study published in Oxford Academic found parents believed that "children who were bored after school should be enrolled in extracurricular activities, and that parents who were busy should stop their task and draw with their child if asked." The reality is that not only is being bored a fact of life it is actually necessary and valuable!
Take just a moment and think back to your childhood. What did you do when you got bored? How did your parents respond if you told them you were bored? If you grew up anything like me, the response was probably something like "Go find something to do" or "Go play with your sisters." My mom certainly didn't drop everything to entertain me or even help me find something to do. It was my responsibility.
And find something to do we did! Boredom drove my sisters and I to come up with all sorts of creative ways to entertain ourselves. We discovered that magic markers run under hot water was a great way to dye our Barbie Doll's hair. Our Barbie's went through a serious punk rock stage. Boredom drove me to find the tools to take off the training wheels on my little sister's bike and teach her to ride without them. There was only so long I could keep going slow so she could keep up. Endless games of hide and seek, cops and robbers and tag throughout our neighborhood all resulted from us being bored. Boredom also led me to grow my love of reading. I learned that books were a great way to escape boredom. Boredom also led us to discover that we could climb up on top our house by climbing the fence to get on top of the shed and then jump over to the roof. Needless to say, our mom was not so impressed with that plan when she caught us up there!
Boredom is a fact of life. As adults, we are not constantly entertained. We have to sit through meetings or do tasks as part of our jobs that we find tedious. However, we have learned how to endure boredom. It can be short-lived and we will get through it.
Boredom is where curiosity, creativity and innovation happen. Sometimes the most boring tasks allow our minds to wander and discover amazing things. Kids have to be bored in order to learn how to handle boredom. If allowed to they discover how to use our curiosity to create new and innovative ways to entertain themselves. How else would my sisters and I learned we could dye our Barbie's hair?
Research has linked our ability to deal with boredom to self-regulation and the ability to focus. It appears that higher levels of focus and self-regulation help us experience less boredom. When we are bored, those skills allow us to find ways to not be bored.
So the next time your little cherub complains about being bored, try out an old-school approach. Tell them to "find something to do" or "go clean your room." Let them discover that boredom isn't all that bad. They can handle it. And most importantly they can find constructive ways to not be bored.
