The "I'm Bored" Whine.

find chores for the poor bored little things LOL they will find something better to do, or you will gain a couple helpers. That what my answer was to my "bored" daughters.

Whenever I hear "I'm bored" I tell my kids, their friends or whoever, "that's great because I have some weeds to pull, could use some help here in the kitchen, let me go get you a rag so you can help me dust...." My kids never tell me their bored, it only took one or two tries, their friends usually disappear pretty quickly and find something else to do.

If they are bored then they can go home.

I agree with Nancy W. - whenever my son, or his friends, complain about being bored - I always have a list of things they can do - wash/walk dogs, rake the lawn, do laundry/dishes, mop...I can go on and on. They usually back down, wander off, and find ways to amuse themselves. Tho' one boy actually took the trash out and asked where the rake was. LOL

You are not their activities director 24/7. Children need to learn self directed play. When they come whining to you, just tell them "Hmmm, well, I could use some help with ______". And watch them scatter like a dandelion puff in the wind.

Good Luck and God Bless

Yep, I'm with Tedsmommy! My kids know that if they're bored at Chuck E Cheese, we will leave and go home. If we're at home and they're bored, they get to scrub the toilets. Given these choices, they are rarely bored anymore. ;)

With summer vacation LOOMING so close I have started to compile a list of activities for the dreaded I am bored....for older children it can certainly be chores, but I am more sympathetic to the younger ones "I am bored"
I say cut up slips of paper and write ideas on them and fill a jar and they can pick from the jar...somehow with the little ones this makes it fun, as opposed to when you yourself Say the same exact suggestions and they sigh...good luck, it may be a short term fix. When we were kids and my mom heard I am bored it was go play outside...or go clean this! = )

"I'm bored" is like nails on a chalkboard for me. When ever I hear it, I want to hand a kid a 2x4 and piece of sand paper and tell them to have at it until they get unbored. It is not your job to entertain them. I agree with Tedsmommy. If they're bored, they can either go home, or if you are out, they can sit quietly at a table until it is time to go home.

When your kid throws down the "I'm bored" gauntlet, you do not want to pick it up! It is tempting though, but whatever you suggest will fall upon deaf ears.

Instead of offering suggestions say, "Wow, I feel really sorry for you." or "That sucks." And then go on your merry way. I stopped giving suggestions a long time ago and let my kids figure it out.

I hear you. My kids have a gazillion toys--and they get bored. I do the same thing Nancy W. said--give them chores. The idea of the chore jar is a great one. I'm going to try it.

@Tedsmommy : I have used that one myself! LOL

I would send them back to my child and let THEM figure it out. Give them appropriate words to use (just like you were walking your own child through doing something for the first time, being assertive on their own behalf): "Go let "Susie" know that you want to do something different."

They can work it out. If not, then I guess it's time for you to go home.

This is a major character defect and I make sure to explain this to my children in my daycare. There are so many things available to them and you are right, they have, do, see, and experience 10 times what I did at their age. I do NOT tolerate that behavior from children. When they tell me they are bored I make them more bored. 20 minutes sitting with nothing to do or in the case of Chuckee Cheese, parties over, time to go home.

Ok so realistically those kids probably could NOT just go home b/c it was the middle of a birthday party. The I'm bored can get REALLY annoying. My daughters pull it on me when we are in the car after 2 minutes, really! I usually answer "it's good to be bored!" it gives you a chance to use your imagination. Or we are all bored sometimes. And let it go. If they come up to me at the house I usually offer to give them chores..

well, tell them "don't be lazy... go find something to do!" They just want you to tell them what to do rather than entertaining themselves.

I am sure that parents from every generation have heard it... and every generation kids get "bored"- at least in the past kids were allowed to help out more in the day-to-day activities that kept a community "going".

Today you wouldn't ask a kid to go chop some wood out back, or go milk a cow (in most families at least). Kids aren't given the opportunity to get creative and entertain themselves very often anymore, mostly because we expend a lot of energy on keeping them "safe"... so without being given "sanctioned" activities they are at a loss for what to do when they are "bored".

Of course, the other side of the coin is that people "cater" to kids a lot too- and so kids often don't learn what it is to just be patient for a few minutes.

Maybe a better party place for the "next time" would be a picnic at a public park or something. No tokens, just "free play". The Chuck E. Cheeze business people probably know that kids will come calling for more tokens pretty quickly, and they'll make a lot of money from parents who fork them over to whiny "party goers". I can't blame them- it's a business!

When you are having kids over at your house... simply tell them to go find something to do. If you cater to their whining they'll just keep coming to you every time they are bored. If they are persistant- put them to work! Soon they'll understand that your ideas of "fun stuff to do" include scrubbing the floor, vacuuming, or dusting the furniture... and maybe they can find better things to do on their own!

Good Luck!
-M.

They are old enough to figure it out for themselves. So, just stop figuring it out for them. If they tell you they are bored, tell them to figure something else out. Send them outside. Or they can do some work! :-) Just keep telling them that they need to figure it out for themselves. Once you stop doing it for them, they will quickly learn that it is useless to come and bother you; and they will learn that lifelong skill of being independent thinkers who need to figure things out on their own. Win for you, and win for them. Good luck!

D.,

My answer to that statement, "I'm bored." is to say, "Great!" By being bored children are forced to learn what they like and don't like. They are given an opportunity to learn about themselves and, I think, as parents its our job to encourage them in this type of exploration.

Usually my 9 year-old and 18 year-old foreign exchange son find something fun to do with 5 minutes of making that statement. And it is something they came up with on their own, I didn't have to say anything other than "Great!".

It is not your job to entertain these children, they are old enough to find something to do on their own that is not destructive. I was told by a psychologist not to list things they could be doing because it can shut down the child's own creativity. Try a couple of the suggestions and see how things work on your own.

Good luck.

C..

Yes it sounds like they're used to being overly stimulated. Send them outside to play, that way the "I'm bored" will get told to the wind and not you! :) Kids need to learn to be creative and play with everyday objects, its what we did as kids. Now they watch too much TV and play video games, and even their toys light up and sing and dance for them. Have some soccer balls on hand, or other sport equipment and sent them out for active play. Then let them sit quietly and read a good book. If they don't like those options, they're on their own. :)

Best wishes!

I always tell my children "only boring people get bored". I'd say " Get together and use those little kid imaginations to come up with something to do or we'll have to end the playdate if everyone is so miserable :(" It's not like they are 3, these are 7 and 8 year old kids. You could have a couple of suggestions ready for activites, board game, drawing, legos, etc, but after that, I'd be done. I have NO sympathy for whiny kids either!

Tell them they could be WORKING in some third world country and have almost nothing to eat after working 12-14 days. Bet they'll drop that tune real fast.

I think if they are bored they can call their mom and go home. Second that makes me think that they are watching a lot of tv. Reason I think that is they have no imagination, no social skills, and need to constantly be entertained. When I hear I'm bored, I cringe and then suggest a few things. Like some other people posted, there's always chores to do. I would have said to them to help pick up plates and clean up the area. I bet they would have found something to do real fast.

I am so glad you posted this. My daughters friends do this too. I thought they were nuts. I never would have told a grown up that when I was a kid for fear they would find some work for me to do. My own kids are the same way. At home I will give them an assignment from time to time. You need to go build something. Write a story. Here's a box, do something with it. I think too many of her friends parents schedule their kids time so much the kids don't know what to do with themselves if they aren't told what to do. It's a loss of childhood.