Mom Hero Reminds Us That We Don’t Have to Entertain Our Kids 24/7
Nothing sets me quite on edge like hearing the words “I’m bored,” come out of my kids’ mouth. Now that it’s summer vacation, I hear it a lot. They want to be constantly entertained ””by me”” every waking moment of the day. Despite the fact that I have a job and a million other responsibilities, I still try to find a way to keep them busy and happy, and I struggle with guilt constantly. But my new mom hero has reminded me and thousands of others that we actually don’t have to amuse our kids all day, every day and in fact, our kids can *gasp* entertain themselves.
Blogger Meredith Masony, the author behind the blog That’s Inappropriate, took to her Facebook page to remind us all that we don’t have to be the cruise directors for our kids.
“As a parent, I have a lot of jobs. I feed my children, I bathe my children, I’m a maid, I grocery shop, I do tons of laundry, I drive them places because they don’t have a driver’s license of their own…but it is not my job to entertain my children.” Masony clarifies that while she does play and interact with them, “it’s their job to entertain themselves.”
Masony’s children are 11, 8, and 6, so they are definitely old enough to find things to keep themselves occupied.
“When our children are very little we have to be with them and they have to be on us all the time. That’s part of it. But at some point, it’s okay to say to your kid, ‘I need you to go play and leave me alone for a little bit because I have to do XYZ.’ But you don’t have to feel guilty about that! You can go, and they’ll be just fine!”
“They’ll figure out how to entertain themselves, and they’ll be happy! I promise! It really does work!”
I could kiss her right now.
Masony’s message struck a nerve, and has been viewed almost half a million times. In the comments on the video, many parents thanked Masony for her video and shared their struggles with finding balance. But as Masony said, kids really do need to learn how to entertain themselves. “It is important that we give them enough room to figure out what they should and shouldn’t be doing.”
You can watch all of Masony’s genius Facebook message below:
What do you think? Is it time we let ourselves off the hook for having to be entertainment directors for our kids?
(Image: Facebook / That’s Inappropriate)
