parenting
The Benefits
of Boredom
Learn what’s good about your kids’ unscheduled time
WRITTEN BY CINDY SCHWEICH HANDLER
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BACK TO SCHOOL 2018 MILLBURN & SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE
OUTDOORS
AND LOVING IT
Kids get creative
when left alone
with options.
I
t’s a long rainy weekend, and
your kids are complaining
that they’re bored. We used
to say the same thing to our
own parents, who as often as
not ignored us. Then we gave
up, and settled down to imagine
the clouds as animal shapes, create
a chalk mural on the sidewalk, or
check out what the kid next door
was doing.
Boredom isn’t new, but in our
over-scheduled, competitive, tech-
driven culture, it’s gotten a bad rap,
according to pediatric health profes-
sionals, who praise the benefits of
kids having to learn how to amuse
themselves. “Unstructured time
gives them the opportunity to grow
and develop their imaginations, cre-
ativity and problem-solving skills,”
says Dr. Karimi Mailutha, a child
and adolescent psychiatrist with
Atlantic Behavioral Health
in Morristown, and a Maplewood
resident. “The ability to discover
what their own passions and inter-
ests are gets a jumpstart during
daydreaming.”
In our hand-held, remote-
controlled digital world, it can be
hard to remember what that feels
like. Think of it this way: It’s the
zone you get into when you’re on a
long-distance swim or drive. There’s
science behind the argument that
downtime gives developing minds
lasting benefits. “Kids need to use
all the parts of their brain, includ-