(Speaking of climbing, he lifted one leg and propped it against the top rail of the crib -- trying, but failing, to get out of the crib this morning. In the dining room, he attempted the same move with a chair. No luck. So he hoisted himself up with his arms and succeeded in getting on the chair. GREAT. Just when he was doing ok semi-unsupervised, he learns how to climb tall objects! I know, I know, it was bound to happen.)
A day later, that box holds no interest. This happens all the time, as I'm sure you can relate.
One day, he can push his truck for half an hour (videos 1,2). The next day, he has no interest in it.
One day, he can enjoy taking things out of the condiments drawer. The next day, who cares?
One day, he can enjoy his Thomas set. The next day, he whines to watch videos on daddy's iPhone.
We have this huge plastic storage box in front of the fireplace that (1) slows down J's attempts at climbing into the fireplace and (2) stores toys. Ideally, we told ourselves that we'd rotate toys every few weeks so that J doesn't become bored with the same toys. Well, in reality, we do that every few months (maybe once a season). I know, shocker. And even when we do, J's still not that impressed with the "new" selection. He has a good long term memory, I guess.
When we go to the toy store, we do take J. I know, we're crazy right? We observe what toys he's drawn to and then purchase it (them). For instance, he loved pushing Thomas around in the store. At home, sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't.
I know it's not a big deal. I just don't like to see him bored, because it turns to being antsy and then it turns to being clingy/whiny/unbearable. Laura over at World of Laura B recently shared that boredom is ok, even healthy. It trains us to imagine, to be creative, and to be self-reliant. We shouldn't always rely on external stimuli for entertainment (adults and children). We shouldn't always spoon feed our kids entertainment because they need to learn to entertain themselves. Laura says that after a few minutes of her kids whining about being bored, one went to play with his cars and other went to draw.
So...I guess I'm saying that I'm trying to strike a balance between entertaining J (with toys, walking outside, playing at the park, going to museums, going to the mall, etc.) and helping him to learn to entertain himself. Which I guess goes along with letting him be independent too.
What do you do when your child(ren) seem bored?
Do you offer an activity to them?
Do you let them entertain themselves?
I know this is an old post but I'm just finally catching up on your blog. When my kids were that age, I was determined to teach them to entertain themselves. I also must confess that I don't like playing with little kids so that was part of it too. But I would constantly redirect my kids to their toys or their books. I refused to entertain them. If they got in my cupboards and made a mess, I usually tolerated it for awhile if they were entertaining themselves and not making too much mess. I also had a drawer in the kitchen full of empty containers they could play with. By the time my oldest was two, she was pretty good about finding things to do. Part of that may just have been her personality because she is definitely independent. Good luck. I think it's ok for kids to be bored because otherwise they never do learn to entertain themselves, in my opinion. But it's just one opinion.
ReplyDeleteHi Luncinda, You're totally right about encouraging them to play by themselves at an early age. They need age appropriate things to do, and they need their parents (like me) to stop hovering!
Delete