There are things that I was shocked to discover after becoming a parent.

Here is one of them:

Kids can be overwhelmed, made to complain about "boredom", etc. by having too many OLD-FASHIONED, PHYSICAL toys, as well as things you'd expect like video games, TV, etc.

I knew about ADD, and that it's caused by overwhelming a child with choices/stimuli and so the child develops a shallowness in his brain process, so he doesn't "miss anything". When you have a remote in your hand and 50 channels, you always wonder what you're missing, so you divert your attention regularly, to make sure you're not missing anything. I think the Internet has a similar effect.

I never thought I'd hear MY kids say, "I want something to dooooo....." or "I'm booored..."

Not because I'm somehow special, but I thought I had the magic answer -- no TV or video games in the house. Have them play with each other and old-fashioned toys, so they can develop their creativity as well as learn how to entertain themselves. Sound pretty good on paper, right?

And good (physical) toys stimulate your child and his budding creativity. If 10 toys is good, 100 toys is 10 times better, right? Heck, I should provide each child 500 toys so they can be the next Einstein or Mozart. Right? WRONG!

We find that we have to put lots of our kids toys in bins, so they won't be overwhelmed with choices.

When they can coat their bedroom floor with a layer of toys and be like, "I'm just getting started. I have tons of toys left in reserve! The living room is next!" it's time to get out the bins!

P.S. We never spend money on toys; we get all our toys from garage sales or from Grandma & Grandpa (just my wife's parents) for Christmas and birthdays. We don't even have a large extended family that buys gifts. Our "social circle" is about zero, not counting CathInfo! Nor do grandma & grandpa REALLY buy all that much for them. But it all adds up!
And some of their toys are old juice bottles and whatnot -- "recycled" toys, if you will.

P.P.S. I should define what I mean by "toy". Not necessarily something major costing at least $10 at Wal-mart -- any "object" the kids play with is a toy. A straw hat, a stuffed animal, a boomerang, a backpack, etc.

When I was a kid, I was always saying "I'm bored, there's nothing to do". Funny thing is, having grown up a Novus Ordite, I had plenty of toys (not to mention video games) and still got bored very easily. All in all, we should keep our kids away from this material stuff. They don't need as much to keep them entertained as the modern world says they do.

Matthew said:

I knew about ADD, and that it's caused by overwhelming a child with choices/stimuli and so the child develops a shallowness in his brain process, so he doesn't "miss anything".

Absolutely right.  Just like I never bought the whole autism phenomenon.  An "autistic" kid is a kid who has retreated into his shell because all the adults around him are crazy and acting like kids themselves.

All of these "illnesses" that children supposedly have today are the result of being born into a sinful generation, and it doesn't help that the medical industry creates new diseases so they can also create the "cure."  Therefore a hyperactive kid with no parental control now has "ADD," a withdrawn kid who has no parental control has "autism," etc.

There's boredom, and then there is being spoiled.  The ADD kids are spoiled.  Your kids are just bored.  It's normal for kids to be bored, but if they're healthy spiritually and mentally they will live.  I'm bored and I'm an adult.  Monks get bored -- heard of the "noonday demon"?  The goal is not to end boredom, it's to keep them from sin.

I saw a commercial the other day for something, showing two kids, a boy and a girl.  The girl was constantly making bored and supercilious, snotty faces to show her contempt for everything around her and how it didn't meet her lofty standards.  In any other generation a child acting like this would be told to wipe that look off her face and to stop acting like a brat.  But in our generation it's considered charming and cute to act like an entitled little fashionista.  The problem is they don't grow out of it very often.

I meant the idea that vaccines create autism.  But I still think that autism in general is a form of withdrawn narcissism that comes from living among sinful people.  Sort of like a form of OCD, when a child is living in chaos, he develops a set, fixed, repetitive routine in order to have some control.  It's like a subconcious desire for rules, for order.

I have been accused of giving everything a spiritual basis, but I believe many maladies do have a spiritual basis.  Not all, but many.  Being in sin and being cut off from grace, you are left exposed to all sorts of attacks from the devil.

I meant the idea that vaccines create autism.  But I still think that autism in general is a form of withdrawn narcissism that comes from living among sinful people.  Sort of like a form of OCD, when a child is living in chaos, he develops a set, fixed, repetitive routine in order to have some control.  It's like a subconcious desire for rules, for order.

I have been accused of giving everything a spiritual basis, but I believe many maladies do have a spiritual basis.  Not all, but many.  Being in sin and being cut off from grace, you are left exposed to all sorts of attacks from the devil.

Asperger's and ASD's may be the diagnosis du jour but that does not negate their existence. Trust me, parents of truly autistic children are well aware of the parents out there using an ASD diagnosis as a get out of jail free card for a brat or plain old odd ball kid. There is a doctor here in our city who slaps the ASD diagnosis on so many kids that the local school systems won't accept anything from her anymore.
Unfortunately, people like that take away from the real children and families coping with autism and autism spectrum disorders.

My second son has Asperger's. He was diagnosed at 8. We knew from the time he was an infant that he was different but different isn't necessarily bad and we were ignorant of the symptoms of autism. We didn't put two and two together until his 'differences' became pathological. He is pretty high functioning and most people who meet him just think he is a little odd unless they have familiarity with Aspies then it is very obvious.
I suggest before making grand assumptions based on who knows what, that you do some reading. Get it from the horses mouth so to speak. There are books out there by autistic people. I'd start with Temple Grandin and after her John Elder Robison. They describe quite accurately how autistics perceive the world.

For what it is worth, we have never let our son use his Asperger's as an excuse or crutch. It is his cross, it is his job to learn to carry it, overcome it and thrive anyway. He's doing a pretty good job so far but only by working very hard. Most Aspies and autistic children and their families work very, very hard to overcome the challenges having autism presents. Sometimes it is not a burden, it is a blessing but it takes a while before you can see it that way. I have no desire to cure my son of Asperger's.  All my husband and I want to do is help him  learn how to navigate the social world he must live in.

I'm bored and I'm an adult.  

I look forward to being bored again someday.  

 

I meant the idea that vaccines create autism. But I still think that autism in general is a form of withdrawn narcissism that comes from living among sinful people. Sort of like a form of OCD, when a child is living in chaos, he develops a set, fixed, repetitive routine in order to have some control. It's like a subconcious desire for rules, for order.

  Exactly correct. An imaginary world of fairness and order is much better than a real world of injustice. I remember that as a kid I decided to give both sides of my body equal chance for work, because I craved for equality with other kids and fairness in games (which didn't exist).
  Therefore whenever I did anything with my right hand I did the same with the left one etc.  It grew to be a compulsion that is still with me after 20 years!
  As a child, my psychologist told me on and on that I should quit daydreaming but I would tell him that I didn't see any reason and that the real world had nothing to give.