WebParenTips - The Online Parenting Newsletter vol.4 no.6, June 2003 

                           DO-NOTHING TIME

      Make room in your children's summer for DO-NOTHING TIME.

Sure it's important to keep them busy enough to avoid those two
dread summer problems: boredom and being-bad.

But our world is in such turmoil that we all need some down time.
Plus during the school year the pace of most households is too hectic.
But summer gives us breathing room. We can slow down the pace.

Let your kids sleep a bit later if they want to. Sign up for only one
or two activities at the neighborhood center instead of a whole bunch.
The piano teacher demands an hour of practice during the school year?
Let your child skip some days or cut practice time by 15 minutes.

What can your children do with the extra time? Absolutely nothing if
they want to. Or they can read, daydream, play by themselves or with
friends.

My fondest memories of summer are sitting on the swing my father
built in the old apple tree lazily moving back and forth without pumping
and fantasizing about my future life. I kept a diary, I wrote stories.
My friends and I wrote a play we put on. My daughter dressed her
obliging cat in doll clothes and paraded her down the street in the
doll buggy.

What can your family do with this extra time? Hang out together.
Share do-nothing time by lying on the grass together and watching
the clouds or stars. Tell your kids about when you were little and
what summers were like for you then. Sing songs. Make up silly
songs or poems.

Play at relaxing together. Do deep breathing or muscle-tense-and-relax
exercises. Show your children how to give a neck or shoulder rub and
have them reciprocate.

And finally, remember there is no TV in do-nothing time.


Happy Parenting,
Marilyn Heins, M.D.


NOTE: There are New ParenTips on the website. See: ParenTips


For comments, suggestions or requests for future topics
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Dr. Marilyn Heins is a Tucson pediatrician, parenting
columnist for the Arizona Daily Star, author of the book,
ParenTips, as well as a mother, stepmother and grandmother.

She is available for workshops and lectures to groups of
parents, teachers, and grandparents. Dr. Heins' Lectures
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More parenting information can be found in
Dr. Heins' book, ParenTips