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The benefits of giving our kids the gift of boredom. Today I came home to find a fort in the living room and a fort in the kitchen. I'll be honest. My first thought wasn't "Imagine the executive functioning skills my kids developed in planning their blanket structures!" My first thought wondering who was going to clean the mess. However, instead of verbalizing this thought, I put it on pause and admired the handiwork of the mini-architects begging to give me a tour. It's a couple of hours later now and my kids are in great moods, very loud great moods. Trust me, I deal out my fair share of screen time when I need to, but moments like this give me a chance to see the benefits of offering boredom instead. Happy kids after an afternoon of problem-solving and creative play is pretty solid evidence. This article by The Child Mind Institute talks about the benefits of boredom for kids including managing their tolerance for calm and quiet allowing minds to reflect and wander. Additionally, boredom allows children the chance to problem-solve and get creative. I commented on my own post recently (so cool of me) in an effort to get a conversation started (it didn't work....yet) about the concept of "And." Beware of over-relying on offering boredom in the name of a scientific article. Kids need structure AND boredom. Kids need interaction AND exploration. They need play that is guided AND play that is self-directed. Sometimes we can let them be bored and interact with some materials or toys we offer them, other times they can figure it out themselves. Are you more of a structure-every-moment parent or "free-range"? Are you more of a "let's play" or "go play" parent? Maybe you wish you could be more of one or the other but something gets in the way. Give yourself a break and remember that kids benefit most from multiple experiences- some structured, some unstructured. You aren't doing something wrong if you don't have everything planned out for their free time and you aren't doing something wrong if you do structure every moment! When they need a little something extra to get the boredom started... Kid Podcasts- Amazon Storytime and Wow in the World are favorites. My kids love to talk to Alexa to play these in their playroom. The podcasts introduce new ideas and vocabulary and kids can listen while they play. I often find my kids building towers while listening to these kid-friendly podcasts. Not a Box- A family favorite! This simple book shows the many ways the character uses a box and their imagination to play. We use the phrase "it's not a box" regularly now to explore multiple uses for all sorts of items! Shameless plug- I even wrote a book about what to do when you're bored. It's quite a helpful response to a bored kid to say, "I even wrote you a book about what to do when you're bored! Find an idea in there!" It's hard for even my 7-year-old to argue with that. As a middle school teacher, I created these Boredom Busters for use at school and for parents to use at home. Free download using the link! Want to know a secret? I wrote this post with an ulterior motive- to beg for comments from you, reader, teaching me all of your parenting wisdom (btw, I was today years old when I learned how to spell "ulterior"). Please, spread the love via comments!! What boredom busters do you use? If this is something you want to try out: I double-dog dare you to give your kid(s) the gift of boredom when you would usually give them a screen at least once this week! Tell us how it goes! Imperfect in Arboro, Jenna

How did we get to these 5? In the spirit of authenticity, let me tell you the real story... Lindsay and I are growing a business while also parenting. Not easy. You know what I mean. Because we knew we had to buckle down and focus, we decided to hit the road. We went aaaalll the way to Winston-Salem, about 30 minutes away. Our little staycation ended up being so productive and so good for us as friends and parents too. We stayed in a hotel, we ate good food, we drank good wine, we even stayed up past 10pm. We've been on vacation together before, but this was different, we were both having fun and being purposeful. We took our devices and our branding workbook with us everywhere we went-shout out to Jordan at https://www.branded-by-jordan.com/ for giving us a roadmap and simplifying this process for us. Here we are getting after it: We had long wonderful conversations about the precision of words we wanted to be the backbone of Arboro. Jordan gave us a long list of words that we sifted through on our own and in true Lindsay and Jenna style, when we compared our lists they were practically identical. By the way, I'm very proud of us for not showing up in exactly the same clothes by accident like we regularly do. Although, now that I think about it, I was wearing colorful vertically striped pants, so we probably did match more than we realized... After an evening of digging into our mission, vision, values, and all the branding goodies, we woke up the next morning and revisited it at Bitty & Beau's Coffee. What a perfect place to talk empowerment. You could really feel it the second you walked in. Their branding is clear and unapologetic. A breath of fresh air and a high bar set for us to strive towards. Serendipity struck when we realized the person the employees (all individuals with disabilities) were getting pictures with while we were there was the founder herself, checking in on the shop, and more importantly, supporting the people running the shop. Looking at our core values after a night of sleep (R.E.M. and everything), we were both feeling fully confident and excited about what we selected- Authenticity, Integrity, Connection, Discovery, and Empowerment. Why these? Authenticity- We want people to let down their guard, embrace the humanness of imperfection and feel the solidarity of knowing that we are all doing the best we can with what we've got. Integrity- Life is full of choices, integrity is about having the courage to make the ethical choices that will help and not hurt. Connection- We want Arboro to be a catalyst for connections to others, to new ideas, and to empowering resources Discovery- We want to curate opportunities for personal growth to take place through the process of discovery. We can offer options and resources to discover but the process of embracing an idea or discovering a possibility is within your hands. Empowerment- Let's evolve with joy. Let's lift each other up to better their lives and situations not just for themselves, but for everyone within their sphere of influence. To us, empowerment is about strengthening others in a way that will impact them in bigger ways than we can fathom. Imperfect in Arboro, Jenna Comment below and tell us -Which of our Core Values is your favorite? Why? - Which of these values have you noticed in Arboro's culture and how does it show up? -Which of these do you hope to foster most within yourself this year? How can we help? - Tell us about a time you empowered yourself with a change of scenery to gain perspective or to increase your productivity.

Recently I had the joy of sitting down with the Moms of Multiples group here in Greensboro. Are you a mom of multiples? If so, look them up asap. They are an incredible support group for one another and can empathize with the twin, triplet, etc. experience in a way that people who don't live it cannot. By the way, I was a guest and as someone who is not a mom of multiples, it was an honor to be in the room. We started our session by reading this poem by Brene Brown. I invited the parents to read it and note what resonated with them. After we had time to dig in, we each shared the portion that tugged at our heartstrings the most. What struck me was that each parent noted a different part of the poem. We used this as a moment to hit pause and get some of those critical reminders needed to move forward along with the validation of sitting next to other parents who really understand. Talk to us. What part speaks to you right now? Why? Add your thoughts in the comments and let's get "Arboro" connecting because we're all in this together. Imperfect in Arboro, Jenna

For now and for what's next? For Students: Tutoring needs a rebrand. Just as we now know that teacher-directed, one-size-fits-all approaches are not the most effective teaching models, the same is true for tutoring. Student-centered, engaging support for students is what we call coaching. We coach students by helping them develop skillsets that will increase both their confidence and knowledge acquisition, not just for now, but for a lifetime. For Caregivers: We've all heard the "there's no manual for this!" comment when we hit hurdles as parents. While that's true, it doesn't mean we can't equip parents with research-based tactics to build confidence and improve family relationships. Some parents may prefer our one-on-one model, whereas others are seeking connections and community that they will get through our BYOB (bring your own baby) book clubs and seasonal clothing swaps. STRONGER FAMILIES, STRONGER COMMUNITY: We are in the business of empowerment. Empowerment doesn't come in a box, nor from a book or podcast. It is the strength that comes from a desire to learn tied with a source of information and support. We have three customer types and three services that offer both the information and the support individuals need to reach the next level of confidence in their role. Our customers are not just students, like other tutoring providers, but the parents and teachers that have the most influence over our students. Our services of coaching, enrichment, and community-building inspire growth, wellbeing, and connections that improve families and strengthen our community. Imperfect in Arboro, Jenna

Top-Rated Parenting Podcast: Good Inside. Dr. Becky answers real questions from real parents. Reading Rockets: Parents' guide to support developing readers. Kids Eat in Color: Jennifer Anderson simplifies food talk.