Families that don't do anything with children

I doubt OP and posters like her consider going to do the weekly shop a worthy pursuit.

Did you live in a tower block where the lifts were always breaking down, where there was no outdoor storage to keep them, and anything left outside would either get nicked or removed by the council/landlord? I'm assuming the answer to that is no. Step outside of your ivory tower for one second.

All the kids are in childcare "camps" because their parents are at work.

Because you don't need to be doing something all the time!!

Children need to learn to be bored and comfortable with not always doing something. With they way society is and the pressures people are under to constantly keep going and going is very unhealthy!! Children can go out in their garden, children can do things inside the house. Children need to learn to improvise without being dragged along to do stuff on parents terms.

Initiative is an important skill to develop! Something I feel young people are seriously lacking nowadays!

Well, it doesn't necessarily have to cost money. Even if you live in an apartment, most people have a park closeby.

Or just include them in your daily life, like going shopping. My 5 and 3 year old love going to Lidl with me, scanning things and paying at the checkout.

Not everyone appreciates the concept of culture capital, and for some people, that’s how they understand living.

It’s not for me, personally, but, we are all different.

The difference is there was no all-day TV, no videos, mobiles, internet, video games, computers. Kids played out, went to each other’s houses, read books, did crafts and generally had to be more creative to find something to do.

I think you are judging people without full information. You can't rely on what kids tell you!

If you asked my DC what they had done these holidays, they might say "played fortnite" if that is what they had done that morning. Never mind the holiday abroad, weekends camping, trip to the zoo, cycling trips, go ape, art exhibition, play dates, nature camp, etc. As well as those activities, they have had to amuse themselves and be a bit bored while I work, and that might be what they mention if you ask them at the wrong moment.

And if I filled our time with walks to the park and beach, then they would definitely say "nothing", as these are normal things we do year round, so they wouldn't register as a "holiday activity".

Finally, if an adult they are a bit shy to talk to asks them a question, "nothing" is a quick answer.

Did she though? Because my ten year old is always moaning about the fact that “all you ever want to do is housework” and “you’re always moaning at us to tidy up that’s all we EVERRRRR do”. And it’s complete nonsense. Occasionally I ask her to clean up her shit/bedroom, yes. Take her plate to the kitchen. And the attitude I get from her for asking this is eye rolling and moaning. “It’s the holidays, stop moaning about housework”.

We’re out and about all the time. Swimming. Library. Parks. Town. Beach. She’s been out with her pals loads. She’s had movie nights with her pals, we’ve been on holiday.

Yet, when my sister asked her at the weekend if she’d had a good holiday, “all she wants us to do is tidy” is what she said 🙃

A lot of it is attitude. I would think nearly everyone lives within walking distance of a park/green space/playground and it really isn’t about money. It is an inertia and probably made worse since Covid when we were encouraged not to go anywhere. I’m not talking about extreme cases of depression etc

I’m sorry but this is full of excuses. I lived in a flat for 8 years and my kids still had bikes. Stop making excuses for lazy.

Some areas can't access the city centre without going under the underpass which is scary with all its turn offs and hidden corners.

Just googled free things to do in my city. There's not a lot.

My mum was utterly boring. School holidays would consist of staying in. She would tell us to do housework and watch TV. Irritatingly she now says that its good to take kids out. I take the kids out probably every other day in the school hols

No bikes if you live in a flat/small terrace.

Also in these areas you are often trapped in a small wedge of territory trapped between dual carriageways and main roads into the city/town centre. It is pot luck whether your wedge has got a park. Some cities are better than others.(Eg Nottingham Meadows has a good park and easily accessible space) (I've lived in several towns and cities in the Midlands) if you have to walk by busy polluted roads to go anywhere it's probably not as beneficial as you might think. The only accessible park in Derby was in the red light district and was actively warned not to go there. It was tiny and no play area. There was not a lot to do in the city centre.

It all depends on where you live. If you don't live in the area your families live in you don't know the difficulties. You might see a nice looking park but you don't know the practicalities of getting there.

It was ever thus. I trained as a social worker 40 years ago and did a placement on a housing estate in Plymouth. Many children there had never been to the seaside. In Plymouth.

As others have said. Because of loss of street play and children playing outdoors for hours Unsupervised !! Which was rhe normal for most of human history.

Adults now have to take children out for organised playing in parks or to activities in a way that is basically wierd compared to how humans evolved to live

Really because it’s the total opposite here. Everywhere is absolutely rammed and that is off putting in itself tbh. But we press on anyway…

it’s about balance. Mine are going swimming this morning. Then they might have a couple of hours on the Switch (they are playing some elaborate game together on Minecraft, building a village or something) then maybe park or library this afternoon.

The point today is that removing kids from their devices requires more or less constant supervision.

Why?

It doesn't really. My DGC is only allowed iPad at weekends. It's locked away all week. No problem at all. Never been any different

You’re forgetting all the people that work term time jobs so they have the holidays off with their kids.

@OverheardInLidl

BTW I grew up playing in the garden and building dens. My mum actually made home made ginger beer, and I was born in the 80s. Not sure where you've got the idea this only happened in the 1940s. Considering what was going on at the time, Enid Blyton's books were purely fantasy..

Enid Blyton's books were written in the 1940s. That's all great but the 1980s was pre smartphones. The point today is that removing kids from their devices requires more or less constant supervision.

Again, thats all well and good if you can afford summer clubs, or even live close to where they are being run. Some summer clubs charge £40 per day or more. In reality some parents will only be able to afford one session over the summer. Then you'll be saying how terrible it is that they only got to go once.

BTW I grew up playing in the garden and building dens. My mum actually made home made ginger beer, and I was born in the 80s. Not sure where you've got the idea this only happened in the 1940s. Considering what was going on at the time, Enid Blyton's books were purely fantasy.

@OverheardInLidl

I assume you're in these people's homes 24/7 and know for absolute certain that this happens from day to day?

Of course not, don't be ridiculous. It's a rhetorical point.

But in reality: "allowing children to be bored" without recourse to screens/devices, usually means one of two things:

• Total screen/device ban: which is almost unenforceable when you're a working parent because it means you're constantly disturbed/interrupted by said kids.
• Supervision and making sure they come off screens all the time, which is doable if you're not working but fairly labour intensive in the best scenarios

If you're in the highly privileged position of being a SAHM with plenty of resources and a large house in the country, maybe "allowing children to be creatively bored" is achievable. But for most of us there's a tradeoff between money and time.

I just don't buy the idea that the country is full of children living out some ersatz 1940s childhood like Five Go Mad in Suburbia, replete with den building and lashings of (home made) ginger beer. It's largely a fiction and yet another one which is designed to make working parents feel guilty.

Given that situation: I'd far rather have a child in summer clubs or other activities than lying around at home.

You are coming across as quite smug.

This clearly isnt about you.