The Conscious Parent

value, many in modern society have lost the ability to respond to life
without turning it into a major production. Consequently, our children
grow up believing life is to be lived fast and furiously. In their everyday
existence, drama trumps simplicity, excitement beats out stillness. They
grow up addicted to a life of highs and lows, unable to rest in the
ordinary and with little perspective on how to glean enjoyment from the
mundane.
Children learn who they are and what they really enjoy if they are
allowed to sit with themselves. Inundated with activity and subjected to
lesson upon lesson, how can they hope to recognize their authentic voice
amid the din of all this “doing?”
One day my four-year-old daughter was in a restless mood. Jumpy and
hard to please, she kept saying she was bored and had nothing to do. My
first instinct was to rescue her—and, in the process, myself! Isn’t a
“good” parent supposed to schedule their children’s time? As I
contemplated whether I should turn on the television, do a project with
her, or take her to the park, the insight came to me, “How will she learn
to navigate her way through her boredom if I rescue her all the time?”
Our children develop emotional sturdiness when they manage their
emotions without the assistance of an external aid. So I told her, “It’s
okay to be bored. There’s nothing wrong with feeling bored. Keep being
bored.”
She looked at me not just with great disappointment, but as if I were
slightly mad. As she left my room, she muttered loudly to herself and
kept on muttering long after she was out of view. After several minutes, I
noticed her complaining seemed to have died down. When I went to her