CMV: Parenting is 99% just providing your kids with basic necessities and then giving them the space to be bored.

I have been a parent for over a decade now and I have come to realize that true parenting is something that is relatively easy, and doesn’t require much effort at all. <br><br>My kids are never more happy and content than when I give them the opportunity to be bored. Let me give you some examples of what I mean. <br><br>I have three kids and I just threw out all of their headphones so they don’t have them anymore. Why did I do that? Because parental guilt. I felt that I was doing the bare minimum by just handing them a tablet and headphones to watch whatever they want. And I was right, it is the bare minimum. So I threw out the headphones and put the tablets away. If they want to watch something, they still have to sit next to one another and watch the same thing. This is how I watched TV when I was a kid and it is how my kids will as well. <br><br>I also made a change to morning routines. I don’t rush my kids out the door anymore, or try to get them to eat breakfast quicker than they used to. Why? Because I was the one who was actually getting ready for school. I always felt like I was racing against the clock to get my kids out the door, even when I knew we had plenty of time to get to school. Granted they are older now so they can take care of themselves. But I used to worry that I was somehow failing if we weren’t ready to roll with a half hour minimum to spare. Now I’m not doing that anymore. <br><br>My kids can do whatever they want in the morning so long as they are ready to go by a certain time. I’m not stressing about breakfast anymore, I’m not rushing their morning shit, bath, and tooth-brush routines. I just don’t stress about any of that stuff. <br><br>I also stopped forcing my kids to eat when I notice they aren’t hungry anymore. Again, this is all because of parental guilt. I used to feel like it was my fault if my kid was hungry later on. I thought I was somehow failing as a parent if my kids weren’t full enough at the end of dinner. But now I just let them stop eating whenever they want. They can even stop mid-bite if they want. I don’t care anymore. If they want a snack later on or if they end up being hungry at 9pm, that’s their problem, not mine. <br><br>I have also started forcing them to sit down at the dinner table with me, and we all eat together. I used to think I was being nice by letting them eat their meals wherever they want, but now I realize that I was again being guilty. I was trying to avoid my kids being bored by letting them eat wherever they want, and that actually made meal time worse. <br><br>My kids will now wait for me to be done if I’m still cooking. I’m gonna sit down and eat right in front of them - and then they will get their food once I’m done. <br><br>I don’t know if I’m just a bad parent or not, but I generally just don’t give a shit if my kids are bored anymore. I will generally not do anything for my kids if it involves an inconveniencing me. So if they want to go play basketball, they need to figure out the bus schedule, and I’m not going to take them somewhere if I have already taken them somewhere else and they miss their bus. <br><br>This is also why I don’t buy my kids meals anymore. I generally don’t take my kids out to eat. I stopped buying them meals because of parental guilt. I used to let them pick the restaurant when we went out. And then I started telling them the only places we go are fast food restaurants. Honestly, it was just a way to keep costs down. <br><br>But the real turning point for me came when my kid just asked for a McDonald’s cheeseburger at a restaurant. I was shocked and asked what they meant. I thought he was joking but he wasn’t. He was dead serious when he asked if they sold cheeseburgers. <br><br>He thought he was still at McDonald’s, not a restaurant. I realized that my kids are totally content with cheap fast food. They don’t give a shit what brand they get their cheeseburger from. So long as it’s a cheeseburger. <br><br>So now I never take them to eat. They are happy when I give them some McDonald’s. And If they’re hungry after that, that’s not my problem. <br><br>Now I don’t feel guilty letting my kids be bored. I just let them figure things out on their own. And to be honest, they're better kids because of it.