What’s wrong with raising a lazy child? Nothing! The haters are jealous of our laid back lifestyle. I don’t get parents who preach go-go-go all the time.
Doesn’t my son deserve to be lazy and recharge, too?
When I say “lazy” I mean letting kids indulge their free, unstructured time to do what they enjoy – even if that means sitting in front of a video game or the TV for awhile. And those who complain that raising a lazy child means that they sleep all the time? This is my dream come true!
My son, Chase, may not have to balance as much as I do, but he still does schoolwork and chores around the house. We all deserve to be lazy at the end of the day and on the weekends. Sure, kids are high energy, and there is lots in life to do. But kids deserve the chance to recharge just as much as us parents do. Here’s ten reasons why raising a lazy child is healthier:
- Parents are insecure about their own laziness – Those parents who complain about having a lazy child might just be projecting their own insecurities for being lazy themselves.
- A lazy child doesn’t mean an overweight child – Most kids who are sitting around playing video games are also being subjected to parents forcing them into physical activities. This balance is great.
- A lazy child is less stressed out – How stressed out would you be if you were always on the go, from one activity to the next, without rest? And yet, that’s what some parents expect from their kids, even though experts agree that children should have unstructured playtime. If experts say a lazy child isn’t bad, then I’m not worried.
- Lazy kids learn to create their own structure – When a kid isn’t busy every minute of the day with scheduled activities, they also have a chance to learn self-sufficiency and independence.
- Lazy kids are more creative – It gives them a chance to be creative, as they have to figure out what they want to do with their down time. All of this sounds pretty beneficial to me.
- All parents worry about having a lazy child – When I hear about other families and kids running around town doing everything imaginable – from soccer to the zoo to swimming lessons – I do sometimes worry we’ve crossed the boundaries from relaxation into bedsores. I am not the only one. I follow a lazy family’s blog written by a woman who has the same worries I do — that her whole family is lazy, and that other families are out there “making memories” while her family sits at home.
- Lazy children read more – Remember the stories of parents in the 1950s and 1960s who complained that their kids sat around the house all day reading comic books? Today’s sensibilities prove that we’d just be happy having kids who read. The next generation is likely to think our video games were healthy.
- Raising a lazy child means raising a normal child – Children are designed so that they need more sleep, more rest, more downtime and more breaks than adults. Projecting adult behaviors on children is not only unfair, it can harm their well being.
- A lazy child makes happy parents – I enjoy doing crossword puzzles. After a long day trying to balance work, grad school, a messy house, a passel of pets, and a 10-year-old son, I need to relax in the evenings. I need to get sleep, recharge, and be ready to take on whatever the next day brings. My lazy child makes this easier for me.
- Raising a lazy child will make for good sleepers in life – Developing a sleep schedule for children also involves allowing children to structure in their own naps. By giving them the freedom to regulate their sleep schedules, they’ll learn to fall asleep on their own more easily.
I share the concern that raising a lazy child might turn him into a lazy adult, but mine has years ahead of him where he gets to juggle work, grad school, a passel of pets, kids, house cleaning. Let’s face it, he’ll probably turn out to be a lot like my husband or me. They usually do.
And I’m not going to let my own insecurities about life get in the way of letting my child live his life – lazy or frenetic. I can’t change his personality to be what I want, but I can present him with the balance between a busy life and one that allows him to be a lazy child – at least every once in a while.