In today’s world, we are taught that once you enter motherhood, your sole existence is to keep your kids happy and entertained. Your life needs to revolve around them. Social media tells us that it is our duty to ensure they have an enriching life, full of crafts, science experiments, educational shows, extracurricular activities, and picture-perfect, healthy recipes.
Society defines you now as a “mother,” and you’d better live up to the current standards, or be subject to mommy wars. For better or for worse, we are a generation of Pinterest Parents, in which our mission in life should be to keep our kids entertained 100% of the time.
We are told that we have to sign our kids up for soccer, t-ball, swimming lessons, dance, art camp, gymnastics, and music class. At the same time, we need to make sure they have a healthy yet fun dinner, chock-full of veggies on the table, and end the night with age-appropriate educational games. In between all of that, you’d better make sure they are painting and yoga-ing, and never give them a chance to say, “I’m bored.” On weekends, every hour should be booked with something fun and exciting to differentiate from the school and work week.
I’m tired just thinking about that. We are raising an over-entertained generation and making ourselves crazy in the process. Maybe it’s the introverted extrovert in me, but these plans always sound fun until I get to the end of the day and realize that we are all exhausted. I think over-entertaining kids is overrated.
Last year, I signed my three-year-old up for soccer. Because my spouse works on weekends, I had to drag myself, her, and my infant out of our cozy beds every Saturday morning. Then trek to the field with stroller and gear, and bribe her to stay out on the field with a combination of donuts, fruit snacks, and ice cream. It wasn’t fun for anyone.
Why did I do it? I thought it would be fun for her, but it wasn’t. She didn’t want to be there, and neither did I. My daughter would have been happy as a clam lounging around in jammies all morning, followed by a trip to the playground. I would have been a lot happier doing that, too.
Does this sound familiar? Well, I’m here to tell you to stop. Stop over-entertaining your kids for the sake of your sanity and theirs. Don’t worry if your kids are bored or not getting enough enrichment. Free yourself from the pressure of over-entertaining.
I love my kids, and I want them to grow up to be happy and successful, but it doesn’t mean that I need to entertain them to the point of exhaustion. In my own humble opinion, I think when you over-entertain your kids, you are doing them and yourself a major disservice. I think all this over-entertainment is putting unnecessary pressure on moms. The end result is not enough downtime for anyone, which everyone needs to fill up their tanks.
If your kids are never bored, how will they understand the value of entertainment?
You don’t need to entertain your kids in unique ways every waking moment of the day, each day of the week. Especially if your kids are in school all day, let them have some downtime. It’s okay if you didn’t spend the weekend setting up elaborate art projects or shuffling your three-year-old around to three different activities.
It is okay if your kids played by themselves or watched TV while you sat on the couch and read that long-overdue book. It’s okay if you spend every Sunday morning at the grocery store instead of signing up for that gymnastics class. Give yourself and your kids a break from the pressure of entertainment, and you may be surprised by how relaxed you feel!
