Every parent has experienced what happens when kids are bored, and my family is no exception. All of my children have been through the various stages of boredom. First, they whine. Then they cry and claim that they’re hungry every 18 minutes. They flip around from here to there with big dramatic movements and heavy sighs. They complain about not having anything to do and how boring our house is. And how HORRIBLE life is.

While they perform, I nonchalantly point to the long list titled THINGS TO DO pinned to our bulletin board. Then I sit and read or do handwork. Calmly and quietly.

Because here’s what I know…

Eventually, they’ll stop the theatrics and come over to talk. I’ll help them pick interesting things from the list or brainstorm new ideas. We’ll gather supplies and troubleshoot.

I’ll show them that I’m on their side, but I won’t do the heavy lifting.

Once they experience this rite of passage, they readily demonstrate that they’re creative and interesting people who find things to get into for years to come. With my support but without my direction.

Things like making flannel dog beds and turning old t-shirts into chew toys. Things like delivering their creations to a local shelter and visiting the puppies. Keeping it real: They could’ve bought new dog beds from the store for less than they paid for all of that stuffing sooo…not a fiscally responsible project.

But…they spent their money and enjoyed doing it.

And they weren’t bored!

If you’d like to edit my simple list of things to do when kids are bored and make it your own, here’s an editable Things to Do list that you can download and revise for your home. [Click FILE and then DOWNLOAD to save a copy to your computer for editing.] I can’t promise that you’ll never hear, “I’m so bored” again, but at least this time, you’ll be prepared to point and chill.

You can find me hanging out on Instagram @heritagemomblog. I hope to see you there!