“Don’t do, just be………”
Today I felt compelled to write about the importance of down time for children.
Well, not only for kids but for adults too.
Our world is ever-changing and at the moment it seems so fast paced with everyone hell bent on filling every single minute of every single day with activities or screens and we have all but forgotten how to simply be.
Be in nature.
Be in our own company.
Be in the moment.
I don’t know about you, but I feel a little sad when I see a family out to dinner and they have a two year old sitting there with an i-pad or an i-phone.
When did we have this sudden urge to stop communicating with our kids preferring them to be occupied by a screen?
Why is it more important for them to be ‘entertained’ instead of allowing them to have a conversation, look around, discover, explore and create or simply to just be, in their own company.
By teaching our children that doing, doing, doing all the time is beneficial, we will raise teenagers that constantly need to be doing, doing, doing and adults that constantly need to be doing, doing, doing which makes us exhausted and unable to hear the whisper of spirit or harness our creative energy. We lose touch with our imagination and our inner voice.
Being is just as important.
Let’s make quiet time a part of their day – a routine that they all do together. It could be after their bath and dinner, when they are clean and beautiful and their tummies are full. Then it is time to turn off all electronics to sit down together allowing some time to just be. The older ones could read to the younger, they could colour in, make up a play, or just talk about their day: to just be there in each other’s company with no distractions.
Put on some nice, gentle music, light some incense and they will soon get the picture. They will love this time when mum or dad – or both – give them their undivided attention for one hour. Where we connect with them, ask them about their day, give them the space and the opportunity to create, imagine and dream, to talk and to unwind.
We actually don’t have to fill the day driving from footy to cricket, from music practice to ballet, to play dates and kinder gyms. We can simply teach them how to be: quiet and peaceful. This is just as important as allowing them to be social and engaged.
It’s all about balance.
For busy parents and busy children.