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Although it now seems like the week before Halloween catapults us straight into the holiday season, as we turn the corner on this week there is no denying we are officially in it.

The conundrum of the holidays, at least for me, is that I somehow feel like I have absolutely no time and also an abundance of time. Our evenings fill up with holiday traditions, memory-making, and general seasonal scurrying. At the very same time, days off from school mean my children suddenly have long stretches of unstructured time.

And despite this being the season of gratitude, what I hear way more often than I’d like to admit is, “I’m so bored.”

I would love to head into our upcoming six days off feeling deeply appreciative of my family, not secretly counting down until everyone goes back to school. So how does one actually do that?

This summer, as a community, we read The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. A few weeks ago, he joined the ISACS parent series to talk more about his findings. The big messages that stuck with me were these:

• We tend to overprotect our kids in the real world and underprotect them online.
• Our children spend far too much time on screens, and it is chipping away at their self-esteem and attention spans.
• Many kids no longer know how to be bored and then figure out what to do about it.

His recommendation is clear: get them off their screens and show them they matter. Give them independence challenges and real responsibilities.

Did you know that in the 1970s, one of the checks for first grade readiness was whether a child could walk several blocks by themselves to a nearby store or friend’s house? We have drifted very far from that standard.

So this Thanksgiving break, I am locking many of the apps on my kids’ phones, and they are going to do some hard things. I am not entirely sure what all of those things will be yet, but there will be opportunities to try new things without my hovering, and chances to have a real impact on our family and our community.

Also, just for good measure, every time I hear, “I’m bored,” I am going to hand them a chore.

My hope is that by the end of the break, they will be a little detoxed from their screens, a little more willing to rely on each other instead of only on me, and proud of at least one thing they did that was genuinely challenging.

And my hope for you is that your Thanksgiving break is filled with laughter, love, and just enough boredom that your children end up emptying the dishwasher without you asking.

If you see mine raking leaves, wiping baseboards, or organizing the Tupperware drawer, just know: someone said, “I’m bored.”