The benefits of boredom – something that lockdown has taught us. We may have had ridiculously busy lives beforehand and had no time for boredom. Lockdown has forced us to slow down and strip our lives back. With more time on our hands we will have spent more time with our children and our family. We may have addressed what the most important things in our lives are, wanted to help others and tried to make sure our families were all okay, and that everyone was getting through this as best as they could. Prior to lockdown many families liked to keep busy all the time. Weekend plans would have been booked up weeks in advance and it would have been impossible to do anything spontaneous. Life was lived at a faster pace as we could only see friends at the weekends. Life is no longer like that. We are not busy all the time with plans – it’s the same for our children.
The Benefits Of Boredom Should Be Appreciated
Boredom has been good as it has led to creativity and new projects to be discovered. Children have developed new skills, read more, played their musical instruments more, found something to do in the garden etc. With parents working from home, (in some households), children have had to get on with it and find something to do. Finding something to do when you are bored is a life skill – children having the ability to use initiative and find things to occupy their time that they enjoy. This could be on their own or with siblings. If we don’t give our children the opportunity to slow down, they wont have the chance to develop this skill.
Have your children developed any new hobbies or interests during lockdown? Perhaps they’ve been developing practical skills by helping around the home, helping with siblings or helping the local community. Let me know in the comments or via my social channels.
