Recently experienced again over a coffee with a friend: Childish boredom seems even more unbearable than for the children themselves to the parents of the desperate little ones. The three of them stood in front of us, with dachshund eyes that could make even award-winning dachshunds jealous. "We are sooooo bored," they said and hung their little shoulders. What a sight. Before I could laugh and get rid of my standard answer (more on that later), to my surprise, an endless loop of suggestions from my girlfriend and wrinkled noses, shaking heads and "Nöööös" in response from the children began next to me. And then at the end the question that this play should lead to from the beginning: "Can we watch something small?"
Constant entertainment makes everyone crazy
My girlfriend almost allowed it. Then I got into it because I don't think that three children who actually get along really well have to watch series together just because they can't think of anything ad hoc. I'm sure that these idle moments can create something nicer than Paw Patrol. And I dare say that the children don't even need us for that. On the contrary: Due to the long days in daycare centers and schools of many children, life is so compressed that there is hardly any time for short moments of boredom. Isn't that a little terrible? When I look back on my childhood, it is honestly exactly this state of emptiness and calm, even if I – like all children – hated it at the time.
What happens when nothing happens
We didn't turn on the TV. We also stopped making suggestions and just continued to drink coffee. With evil eyes and even lower shoulders, the children trotted back into the nursery. An hour later we were excitedly invited to a theatrical performance by a princess, a dragon and a Snow Maiden. They had built a whole set on the bed and Snow White and the princess defeated a kite that afternoon. We got popcorn (crumbled pretzel sticks) and real home-made tickets. But above all, we saw once again that boredom usually creates something good. Above all, great creativity springs from it. At least, if you endure the boredom beast for a short time and decide against the dull sprinkling of Netflix and Co. If you should treat yourself to something in between, this wonderful NOTHING.
My standard answer to children's boredom
Incidentally, I found the ultimate defense against "I'm bored with boredom" attacks years ago. I always happily rub my hands and hand out household chores when the time comes again. To be honest, we are officially no longer bored. We always have very busy children. Boredom rate zero percent. I think the number of unreported cases is much higher. But no guardian of our family will ever find out … and if bringing out garbage is worse than boring, it can't be that bad.