Before I confess all my dirty secrets can I just say I have missed the Mormon Mommy Writer community. I have had an interesting time since I took my hiatus. I will get around to sharing with you all of the crazy events sometime. However, today I wanted to make a small confession of my bad parenting skills.
There was time, not so very long ago, when people carried on conversations with people who were in the same room without using their phones. A time when playing a game of baseball meant taking a ball, bat, and glove outside. It was also a time when kids had an opportunity to think, to create, and to develop without a screen in front of their face. Don't get me wrong, there are still households that live by these same standards. However, it is sad to see television, tablets, and phones taking the place of a good imagination. Some children have been raise to expect constant entertainment. Things have not always been this way. When kids got bored they actually thought up ways to entertain themselves.
My mom laughingly recounts how sending me to my room as a punishment never effected me. I would just sit on my bed even without toys dreaming up stories, imaging far off places, and creating my own entertainment. I didn't need an app to entertain myself. Within the corners of my mind, the possibilities extended forever.
Today, when I heard the sigh of boredom come from the backseat of the car, I handed my daughter my iPod touch. After about 30 second she handed it back. I asked her if she wanted me to turn on some music for her. "No" I ask her what she wants to do. "Nothing." What??? "I said I want to do nothing, Mom!" Afterwards, she sat in the backseat quietly talking to her imaginary friends, and entertaining herself. I smiled as I silently chastised myself for encouraging my daughters dependence on outside entertainment.
The episode reminded me, that I am guilty of pushing constant entertainment at my daughter. We all need our creative time and in today's world that can be hard.
How do you give your kids time to create?
My favorite line for my kids (and my neighbors' kids, and my friends' kids) is: "I am not your cruise director. It is not my job to entertain you 24/7. Go find your own fun! If you can't think of anything to do then I have lots of cleaning you could help out with." ;-)
ReplyDeleteSo glad to have you back, Amber! I like to encourage my children's creativity by having things to create with at there disposal. There was a time when I was hugely into scrapbooking. I don't have the time now, but my stuff is still there for my children to use to make cards, scrapbooks, or , more often than not, to use for school projects. My 12 yr old just got cake decorating stuff for Christmas because she said she wants to be a pastry chef when she grows up. I will ad MIT, though, sometimes it is easier to hand them an iPod!
ReplyDeleteWhat a good question! I think this is something I need to ponder a little...
ReplyDeleteWe keep our kids supplied with legos, sidewalk chalk, and scratch paper. I also set limits on computer time. And I try and show them a good example, always making, fixing, playing, arranging, or writing something myself.
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