{The Blessing of Being Bored}

 Ever heard that one of the best gifts you can give your kids is the gift of boredom?  It's something I've been pondering a lot lately.  We stay so busy {even as a homeschool family} and being intentional in our down time is something that we just have to prioritize.  Sure, they get screen time and watch movies but first we must have some time to be bored.  There's truly a blessing found in it- and definitely the thing that many of my own favorite childhood memories stemmed from.

At the start of the year, I began setting the timer after we have our lunch and QRT {quiet reading time}.  They can do as they wish.  Sometimes it's dolls and romping in the woods and sometimes it's remembering the big bin of beads and building a farm out of legos together.  I love seeing what they come up with when left to their own imaginations.  It gives me a minute to pour a hot cup of tea and sit on the porch but usually I find myself just watching them to see what they come up with next!  It's time that I don't direct or instruct.  There are no screens allowed but sometimes I may have some worship music or classical piano playing.  All school work has been completed for the day, all the chores are done and it's just a small space of downtime before our afternoon activities kick in.  It's time that allows us all to remember what it's like to have to come up with something all on our own.  Just finding what we enjoy, what brings us life and what inspires us.  And truly makes me which we had more time to be bored! 

I loved seeing her pull this out all on her own.  This is typically something she only tries {as it overwhelms her sensory wise} with my directing or her sister helping.  Today, she sat here for nearly an hour all by herself creating and was so proud of what she'd accomplished! 

Meanwhile, Bo guarded the middles as they built an incredible lego farm in the corner of the room- pulling together all sorts of engineering and design. 

Proof that even the busiest child in the world can be happy being bored!