Do you ever feel like your kids need to be constantly entertained? We had an interesting discussion in our Sunday School class this morning about parenting. Someone brought up the point that when we were kids we could barely remember our parents getting on the floor and playing He-Man or Play-Doh for hours with us. Mostly kids then just went off and did their own thing, played outside, rode our bikes all around the neighborhood. I remember playing in my room for hours with my toys by myself!
But now it seems like our kids are always wanting us to play with them, or maybe find it hard to play on their own or entertain themselves with toys. This is so true! I remember waking up Saturday mornings throwing on some clothes, hopping on my hot pink bike with banana seat, flower basket and tassels on the handle bars (wish i still had that bike) and not coming home until the sun went down!
One person in our class suggested that the culprit of our kids not entertaining themselves is the fact that THEY are constantly entertained with television and video games. I had never thought of that before. But I think she had a very valid point!
I have tons of memories of playing with the neighborhood kids, starting babysitter clubs with my friends, lemonade stands, swimming, barbies for hours! But I do not have memories of watching cartoons all day or playing video games for hours at a time.
Could this be why our kids cant seem to find anything to do when there is a house full of new toys?
After thinking about this, I wondered what it would be like to turn off the TV and computer games for a week. Just to see what my kids did. I think the first few days would be rough but after that I bet there imaginations would run and they would dig those toys out of their closets that Santa brought them!
I know my kids would do great, but the real question is, Can I do it!?
1 comment:
On a similar note...I never remember my grandparents playing fort or hide-n-seek with me. My grandmas were too busy cooking and cleaning up the kitchen. We have convenience foods, a big freezer and a microwave that saves us tons of time.
But, you know, we can't turn out kids out on the streets with their bicycles for hours at a time for fear of someone kidnapping or molesting them. What a sad note about our society.
Good luck with turning off the TV. It's hard to change learned behavior. But I think you have a great idea.
Aunt Sharon
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