How are we going to keep the kids entertained while we <insert scenario here> is a question we tend to ask ourselves often. I wonder if our parents cared as much about how to entertain us as we do today. In hindsight, I would say they did not.
It never fails that when we plan a road trip, a restaurant night, or anywhere else that we travel with the kids, we are wondering what to do with the kids. Why? I do not remember my parents putting this much thought into how we were entertained. I firmly believe my parents were awesome and my childhood was great and I am not bashing them in any way. However, I think today’s generation of parents are more child-centric. My parents bought me toys and I played with them in my room or I played outside until the street lights came on.
I knew better than to tell my dad I was bored. He would always find something else for me to do. Nowadays, we see the perfect lives of our friends on Facebook and Pinterest and whatever other sites and think we have to dedicate our lives to the entertaining and betterment of our children. We end up spending so much time trying to create things and fabricate fun that it becomes a chore and the fun factor is completely lost. Or we become burned out and unlock the iPads for them to go crazy with.
Well, I think it is time to end the madness or at least dilute it a little bit. By the time our kids are in elementary school, we have a pretty good handle on the things they are interested in and like to do for fun. My daughter loves art and would draw pictures and color them all day long. I try to feed this creativity by taking pictures of random things and having her try to draw them. It keeps her busy for a while and I am not the entertainer.
That is just a simple example and there are several other things that can be done. You can have them practice a puppet show or deliver a speech about something important to them. Both of which turns them into the entertainment and frees up your time to get things done.
The point of all of this is there is not a requirement for parents to be entertainers to our children. We are not bad parents if we encourage our children to utilize their creativity and if we are not constantly working a Pinterest project for them.