cookieOptions = {...}; Kent Heartstrings: Heartstrings :: Share.Grow.Love // Letters from the Nest

Heartstrings :: Share.Grow.Love // Letters from the Nest

Friday, October 3, 2014




Heartstrings is place which introduces you to a post from a fellow blogging buddy that will hopefully inspire you and tug on your heartstrings.  I love connecting people through my blog and when I find a post that makes me want to jump out of my seat I couldn't be happier to share it with my readers. My hope is that this series will allow us to share new perspectives, stories, projects and inspiration that will make you want to connect with other bloggers. Just one simple way to connect minds, souls and hearts.

If you have a specific post that you feel would be great for this series, please contact kentheartstrings(at)gmail(dot)com! The post can range from a unique DIY project to thoughts on marriage and family...all aspects of our lives are important and we want to hear about all of them! I look forward to hearing from you!

Today I am SUPER excited to bring you Christie, from Letters from the Nest.  She is an incredible writer, as you soon will find out. I have had the privilege of meeting her in person, in fact she was one of my roommates at the Influence Conference this past weekend, so she had to put up with my crazy antics for an entire weekend! She has the sweetest heart and has a beautiful desire to love and serve her community. I am very inspired by Christie, and honored to be able to call her Friend. Grab a sweet tea and cozy on up for this good read.





Christie is a mother of 3, cop’s wife, and Junior Mint lover. She blogs at Letters From the Nest and is a columnist for her hometown newspaper, The LaFollette Press. Christie and her family reside on a farm in the Appalachian mountains of East Tennessee, where sweet tea is served at every meal and hospitality is second nature. She also blogs over at the Konxville Mom Blog.


encouraging boredom in your children

In a world full of endless birthday parties, play dates, car DVD players, and digital gadgets right at our fingertips, children are in a constant state of entertainment, jumping from one awesome activity to the next. This "cycle of fun" always creates the inner need for MORE: more movies, more sugary snacks, more trips (and tantrums) down the toy aisle, one more trip to the splash park, one more ice cream cone. While occasional trips create memories and foster relationships with other children, sometimes...
KIDS JUST NEED TO BE BORED.
There. I said it. There is a creative brilliance that comes with boredom, a primal urge to fill that white space with something inventive and this boredom promotes ownership of unplanned blocks of time. In other words, FREE PLAY ROCKS.
Allow me to explain.
A huge red flag that my children need what my husband and I call " home play therapy" is when they ask the following questions:
"What are we doing tomorrow?"
"What are we doing next?"
"Where are we GOING next?"
When there is an urgency for the "next fun thing," it is a call that we need a few at home days. Days where there are zero events on the calendar. Days where they just PLAY. Explore. Create. Pretend. The days in which our children are at their personal best are the days in which they can simply be kids. Where playing with a basic sheet of paper and pack of crayons turns into digging through the recycle bin for empty cardboard boxes and the next thing you know? They've created a bed for our cat. We have had to create a "no sticks in the house" rule because sticks serve as swords, fairy wands, and fishing poles when that time is free for them to invent such creations.
Five gallon bucket lids become bases for kickball, digging in the dirt is actually a quicksand pit, and the mailman is really a fire breathing dragon. And sandwiches somehow taste better when you are swinging. Kim John Payne, in his book, Simplicity Parenting, states that "nature is the perfect antidote to the sometimes poisonous pressures of modern life."
encouraging boredom in your children 2
Simply stated? Being bored can be the best thing EVER for your children. Allow them to play freely and watch the magic that unfolds.
(PS: And if you want to see how our family creates a balance between busy days and simple ones, read more here ).

4 comments:

  1. Agreed! My daughter is just beginning to engage in imaginative play and it is incredible to watch it unfold. Wouldn't be possible without those "bored" moments!

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  2. Love this, Cassie and Christie! I wholeheartedly agree and try to strike that same balance in our home. My cue that we need more free play and time in the sun is when they get upset about *only* getting to watch one show. We don't have a TV so their screen time is easy to limit but when you have a few hard days that one too many have been watched and the whining begins...outside it is for time with sticks and rocks and dirt. :)

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  3. Oh I love that idea. Definitely implementing that in my home :)

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  4. This is SUCH an honor to be featured on your space!! Thank you! (And I am missing you and the other roomies something crazy this week!)

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