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Showing posts from March, 2020

let them be bored

Schools are cancelling.  Kids are home. Kids are homeschooling (at least for a couple of weeks). For those parents "stuck" at home with your kids (assuming they are healthy), I have one request, one social experiment I would LOVE to see play out.  Let your kids be bored! Shut down electronics. Turn off phones. Keep the television off.  Let your kids be bored out of their minds.  After a day or two of whining and complaining that will push you to your limits, they WILL find something to do. They will wander outside and play some ball, or bike, or dig in the dirt.  They will find art supplies and create something.  They will play board games. They will play and fight with their siblings.  They will read and go on literary adventures.  They will talk with you, your family and their friends.  They need to be bored out of their freaking minds before they hit a wall and decide to DO SOMETHING with their time.  Let them be bored and watch them come alive. 

rabbit hole

It's Lent. Lent is about making more time for God and practicing detachment from things that we may enjoy... not to torture ourselves, but to refocus on God and to show our love for him.  I had no idea what to do this lent.  The first Sunday of Lent, father talked about limiting internet use to when it is truly necessary.  As soon as I pick up my phone, I jump down the rabbit hole of distraction. I deleted social media, but I'd still hop on the Pinterest boards or scroll through the news feeds.  Try seeing how long you can go without picking up your phone/tablet/whatever.  It's pretty humbling. Slowly I'm realizing how much I use it, and how little I need it.  My kids see my face more now, not my profile from me looking at my phone instead of them. I've got a little better routine going around the house. I'm not quite as angry when my kids interrupt me.  I've also had times where I just turn it off because I don't want it. I don't want to read the ne