This morning, we talk to our children about the particular beauty of boredom. We find ourselves exhausted by trying to keep them entertained.
(It’s harder and harder to impress children these days.)
“But what should I do?” the youngest one asks over and over again.
“Think of something.”
I remember a psychologist telling me the greatest gift I can give to my children is the gift of boredom. Wonderful and magical things happen when a child is left with nothing to do.
With nothing to do, the real games begin. That’s when the stories are invented, the treasures of nature are discovered, and the small things are observed and delighted in.
That’s when thinking happens and imagination flourishes. How else will it?
Living with flair means we allow for boredom. We stop entertaining children and let them make their own fun.
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What did you do for fun when you were a child suffering from boredom?