Boredom

I read part of an article today by Scott Adams (creator of the comic strip Dilbert) about the importance of boredom.  (I would have read the entire article but it is from Wall Street Journal and they make you pay to subscribe...)

This was as much as I was able to read:

We've won the war on boredom! If you have a smartphone in your pocket, a game console in the living room, a Kindle in your backpack and an iPad in the kitchen, you never need to suffer a minute without stimulation. Yay!

But wait—we might be in dangerous territory. Experts say our brains need boredom so we can process thoughts and be creative. I think they're right. I've noticed that my best ideas always bubble up when the outside world fails in its primary job of frightening, wounding or entertaining me.

I make my living being creative and have always ...

The timing of me running into this little snip-it  couldn't have been better.  Today I have not been feeling my best and I came across it just as I was about to turn on Barney for the kiddos because I didn't want to direct their play time. 

I don't mind some TV or computer/video game time, but I think it should be limited.  I think it is important that kids learn how to entertain themselves.  The majority of their day should be spent creating, playing, and imagining.  

So, instead of turning on a re-run of Barney to buy myself an extra 30 minutes we decided to build a Little People Zoo that Lala the Baby Monster would destroy every two minutes.  It took a little bit more effort, but I know we all got more out of it.