@ Children today have less independence @@

[waverly]

I agree that entertaining toddlers is for parent sanity. There aren't a lot of activities for that age group, but we were members of a lot of museums that had kid play spaces just because being home with a toddler on the weekend was super annoying.

[waverly]

karinothing , were there other factors besides boredom that led to drinking and drugs such as friends, access to these items, lack of parental supervision? I do agree that some activities in general are helpful for kids to avoid drinking and drugs.

[Jalapeñomel]

Nov 1, 2023 11:55:02 GMT -5 waverly said:

karinothing , were there other factors besides boredom that led to drinking and drugs such as friends, access to these items, lack of parental supervision? I do agree that some activities in general are helpful for kids to avoid drinking and drugs.

Not who you were asking, but I was a very busy as a child: I was top of my class, got a full ride to college, and had perfect grades. I did theater and dance for almost every hour after school, so it wasn't for lack of things to do. 


I had undiagnosed ED, OCD, and major depression, and often self medicated. I had parents that were incredibly strict for what, to me, seemed to be no good reason other than "because I said so" and I had a LOT of issues with that. 

[karinothing]

Nov 1, 2023 11:55:02 GMT -5 waverly said:

karinothing , were there other factors besides boredom that led to drinking and drugs such as friends, access to these items, lack of parental supervision? I do agree that some activities in general are helpful for kids to avoid drinking and drugs.

Friends were probably the biggest thing. My parents were involved, and I felt loved. Maybe anxiety or depression that i was self-medicating (and now why i keep myself busy lol). I didn't have access to the drugs via home environment but had access via friends obviously. 

I don't know I just feel like there is so much information out there on what we have to do right as a parent. Give your kids enrichment, but not too much or they won't gain independence. But don't make them TOO independent because then your kid can feel alone, or it might be neglect. 

[waverly]

karinothing, for sure especially with the advent of the internet there are so many conflicting views on parenting. My son isn't super social so sometimes I worry about that, but on the flip side some of those "friends" are not good influences, so I am also OK with him not hanging out with them a lot. Parenting is hard.