Agree 100% with giving the kids the opportunity to fight boredom on their own terms; left to their own devices. Constantly feeding them entertainment risks dulling their creativity. You'll be surprised what kids can come up with when given free range in their own backyard... (subject to some stealthily supervision, of course :-).
I wonder how much the anti-child atmosphere varies by location and other factors? I haven’t really seen any of that where I live. Pretty much everything around here is kid friendly. Yesterday evening I took my kids to this upscale French bakery we like, and they had a lively debate with the staff about which Macaron looked the yummiest and whether the gelato would taste good hot. Other than the occasional “no yelling” and “stop smearing your face on the buffet glass”, I didn’t have to do much.
Maybe people have forgotten that if you just drag your kids along with you while you run errands, go to the store, eat at a restaurant, and just go about your life with them not being the center of it, they’ll make their own fun and get used to it. And it’s more freeing for kids to not be the center of attention all the time. It’s as if we think kids can’t have fun unless it’s dedicated “kids having fun time” in the schedule. Whenever anyone says “but the kids will be bored”, we should remember that dirt can entertain them for hours and hours.
Most places here are relatively child-friendly as well. I think a lot of structured activities have taken the place of unstructured time for kids because of safety concerns. And somehow, that extended into time with the parents. I think it's because parents compete with entertainment now, too. It feels worse to let your kid be bored in a world where they know that YouTube and video games are an option. The boredom seems more stark in comparison.
Agree 100% with giving the kids the opportunity to fight boredom on their own terms; left to their own devices. Constantly feeding them entertainment risks dulling their creativity. You'll be surprised what kids can come up with when given free range in their own backyard... (subject to some stealthily supervision, of course :-).
I wonder how much the anti-child atmosphere varies by location and other factors? I haven’t really seen any of that where I live. Pretty much everything around here is kid friendly. Yesterday evening I took my kids to this upscale French bakery we like, and they had a lively debate with the staff about which Macaron looked the yummiest and whether the gelato would taste good hot. Other than the occasional “no yelling” and “stop smearing your face on the buffet glass”, I didn’t have to do much.
Maybe people have forgotten that if you just drag your kids along with you while you run errands, go to the store, eat at a restaurant, and just go about your life with them not being the center of it, they’ll make their own fun and get used to it. And it’s more freeing for kids to not be the center of attention all the time. It’s as if we think kids can’t have fun unless it’s dedicated “kids having fun time” in the schedule. Whenever anyone says “but the kids will be bored”, we should remember that dirt can entertain them for hours and hours.
Most places here are relatively child-friendly as well. I think a lot of structured activities have taken the place of unstructured time for kids because of safety concerns. And somehow, that extended into time with the parents. I think it's because parents compete with entertainment now, too. It feels worse to let your kid be bored in a world where they know that YouTube and video games are an option. The boredom seems more stark in comparison.