We all have concerns about our children, even if we’re doing a great job of raising them into well-rounded human beings, there is always doubt that we’re not doing enough. And it can weigh heavy on the mind when you have a teenager to contend with. They may be spending too much time in their room playing video games or just being a bit on the anti-social side. But is this actually a bad thing? Modern parents are so concerned with filling up their child’s spare time with extra-curricular activities, but having some time to themselves can be a good thing. Here’s why…
They Will Learn How To Entertain Themselves
Filling up their time with social activities, sports, drama classes, and everything else means that when the inevitable time comes for your child to spend some time on their own, they won’t know what to do with it! From that, a certain sense of anxiety can develop, and some people just cannot thrive without someone else being there. This is a bad habit, and loneliness can be a very obvious side-effect. Instead, allowing your child, whatever their age, to spend some time learning how to entertain themselves will help them to develop resilience. Of course, some children require supervision, but this doesn’t mean that you need to be actively involved with them at this point. There are many simple ways for children to entertain themselves, and books are the oldest form of entertainment. By giving them a picture book as a baby, they can develop this habit as they get older, and reading will become a natural pastime for them. As schools can make reading a bit of a boring habit, it is so important to encourage them to seek out their own reading education too. You can do this by finding out their favorite genres and getting a range of books. Books, of course, help to encourage the one thing that kids seldom do these days, use their imagination. Fantasy is a genre that fires the imagination, and there are many different books that are suitable for different ages. For some inspiration on what fantasy books come highly rated, you can read the full article here. It’s very easy to give children a phone or a tablet and get them to entertain themselves in this manner, but it’s a risky habit to get into, so be careful.
They Will Demand Fewer Material Goods
Of course, this has a positive effect on your purse, but instead of giving them “stuff” to entertain them, they will naturally find their own ways to occupy their time, and this means that they will make do with what they have got, and live within their means. Children feel they need to be entertained rather than entertain themselves, and so they have computers, tablets, phones, etc. What happens if the internet goes off? We all feel like we’ve lost a limb now, and this can encourage a neediness in children that will continue into adulthood. By encouraging more time by themselves, but in the right balance, they will know how to look after themselves with or without people there. Social skills are really important, but independence is too. Don’t forget that!