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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to expect my DC to be bored sometimes?

55 replies

chinstrappenguin · 30/03/2015 10:47

So my DC are on the first official day of the Easter Hols. We have a few things planned for the time off but normal life (work etc) still has to go on as well. DD who is 7 is already moaning about being bored. I have told her it's okay to be bored sometimes as that is part of life. I also said I could find her some housework to do if she wanted to help Smile I do feel a bit guilty that I am not making their time off fun packed but it's not possible to do fun things all the time. AIBU to think that society makes us feel like we always have to be entertained and we have forgotten how to be bored??

OP posts:
prepperpig · 30/03/2015 10:50

Being bored is part of life and is something children should get used to. Actually there are always lots of things to do when they really think about it, read a book, draw a picture, write a letter, do a bio-blitz in the garden (see how many insects/different plants etc you can find), knit, make a model, sew a pin cushion, tidy your room!!

AlternativeTentacles · 30/03/2015 10:52

I don't think anyone is ever bored when I am around - not because I am the life and soul but because I always offer some dusters and splosh polish or some washing up liquid and plates to play with if they ever say it. This goes for my students as well. Some of them take me up on it. I know just who is the best sweeper and washer-upper and who likes to sort out different equipment into the correct piles.

WorraLiberty · 30/03/2015 10:54

YANBU. I think being bored sometimes is good for kids as it teaches them to think for themselves, when it comes to finding something to do.

FernGullysWoollyPully · 30/03/2015 10:55

I think it's part of life. They need to learn to be able to manage their time and entertain themselves.

flora717 · 30/03/2015 10:55

Being bored as a child has inspired some good artists, writers and musicians. YANBU

ALittleLoveToSpare · 30/03/2015 10:57

I make sure my toddlers have quiet time every afternoon where they're in a room either alone or just them together, nap dependent, for a while so they learn to entertain themselves. I always provide a few books & some duplo or something so they're not just staring at the walls. Often DS1 will insist he's not going to touch the duplo "That's fine, you can choose to read books or have a sleep instead." but when I go back to him he's invariably surrounded by a whole duplo construction site & takes great delight in explaining what everything is. If I didn't let him get bored I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be producing convincing looking cranes, diggers, trains, etc. from basic duplo blocks.

Personally, the ability to entertain themselves using their imaginations is pretty high on my things-to-encourage list!

lertgush · 30/03/2015 11:49

Mine were bored yesterday. They now have tidy rooms. I doubt they'll tell me they're bored today.

RowRowRowCrocodileScream · 30/03/2015 11:58

Interesting article on why it's good for children to be bored:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-21895704

MomOfTwoGirls2 · 30/03/2015 12:13

Agree a bit of boredom will do them more good than harm.
Rule in our house is housework for anybody who says it 3 times (in same day). I ever only hear it once or twice!
And my DDs always manage to come up with something to do.

TheIronGnome · 30/03/2015 12:25

It's SO good for children to be bored- learn to be bored, deal with it and occupy themselves. I can't bare the idea that people think they need to be entertained 24/7

geekymommy · 30/03/2015 14:09

I think it's good for them! It makes them learn how to entertain themselves. They'll have to do things that are boring at some point. They'll probably have at least one class that is really boring. There will be things that are boring to do, but that have to be done, either as part of a job or things around the house.

I don't think it's good for kids to always have someone else planning how they will spend their time. How will they learn to plan how to spend their time, if they never get to do it?

WhatWouldBlairWaldorfDo · 30/03/2015 14:17

Im not a parent but work in childcare (age 7-14) and a junior school. You can really tell which kids are always occupied at home, and who are left to their own devices a bit more.

It bugs me that we have a room full of everything a child could ever want (computers/wii/books/board games/art stuff/pool table/table tennis) plus we play outside every day (football/rounders/climbing frames/built in obstacle course/skipping/hoops) and some kids just wander round going "im bored", like they need everything pointing out to them.
Though I did give one kid a damp cloth and got him to wipe all the skirting boards....he is now never bored.. :)

Annahmolly · 30/03/2015 14:50

YANBU.

If you never allow them to be bored you will end up like a friend of mine, who is constantly trying to keep his children happy. They are always bugging him to take them to places like waterparks and then moan constantly about being hungy/thirsty/having to wait for a slide/wanting to go home.

They even get him to play the difficult parts of videogames for them because they want the gratification of getting to the end of the game without having to put the "work" in.

ScathingContempt · 30/03/2015 14:56

They need to learn to self manage boredom. It's important to experience it and find ways to overcome it. At 7 I think you are doing the right thing, giving suggestions as to what to do but not dropping what you're doing and becoming a performing monkey to them.

I agree with your point at the end of your post.

Comingoutofhibernation · 30/03/2015 15:04

Absolutely YANBU. I've just threatened to take all my 7 year old DS's toys to the charity shop. We took him out to play golf this morning, and now I want half an hour to MN sit down and relax. He laid on the floor moaning he had nothing to do, and he needed me to play with him or take him out somewhere. I will try to do something with him every day, even if it is just a quick trip to the field to play football, but that still leaves a lot of hours in the day, and I would like to think he can amuse himself for some of it.

SoonToBeMrsB · 30/03/2015 15:10

I was bored for the whole of the 90's and much of the early 00's. It's character building! Grin

trufflesnout · 30/03/2015 15:13

YANBU. I remember being a kid and my mum offering me stuff to do when I was bored - but none of it was 'right'. For me boredom was a sense of frustration at not knowing what to do with myself, rather than needing something to do.

maninawomansworld · 30/03/2015 19:09

whenever I complained about being 'bored' as a child I was told that if I didn't like it I could go and consult the list of chores on the kitchen blackboard and get stuck in!

I didn't complain too much.... Strange that.

SylvaniansKeepGettingHoovered · 31/03/2015 10:33

Yes it's good for kids to be a bit bored and find their own way, however when I was little we always had the option of going out in the street with a skipping rope or calling on a friend, playing on a rope-swing or jumping the stream, making up our own games in the local fields or 'selling' our old toys on a table outside our house. It's so sad children can't easily do any of this any more. There are just too many cars around, for a start.

Mrsjayy · 31/03/2015 11:05

I don't believe in kids every waking moment being filled with activities nobody has ever actually died from boredom it's fine

NickyEds · 31/03/2015 11:07

My mother used to say that "only boring people are bored" and would promptly give me a list of jobs to do. I did get bored but never complained to my mother about it!

MarwoodsMate · 31/03/2015 11:10

Nope! Life is sometimes boring. It's nothing to do with being in an era where we are constantly entertained. I often moaned that I was bored as a LO. My DM said the same as you re chores! Also said "only boring people get bored". Used to drive me crazy that one. Smile

atonofwashing · 31/03/2015 11:32

YANBU.
That said, I have just packed DS (8) off to football club as he was driving me nuts by 9am! We are, however, really excited about our Easter trip to granny and grampa's farm house. So much space, animals, bikes etc. No one is ever bored and kids are always outside. Rain or shine.

I am now bored as everyone is out. Suppose I ought to go and do some chores.... Wink

ragged · 31/03/2015 11:38

DC3 is a nightmare when bored. Will not stop talking or trying to wind up his siblings. Punishement is fine by him, that's just more attention and if lucky he's in Purduh with a sibling having riled them to violence.

Mrsjayy · 31/03/2015 12:41

I can remember lolling about the sofa complaining I was bored when I was younger but put would come the chore list to help with the boredom