APRIL 4, 2007

Why are we rushing childhood?

Yes, our lives are busier than ever before.  Yes, we all have more to do in a shorter amount of time than ever before.  Yes, we are all trying to simplify our lives and get more done faster. But there is something to be said for taking time out to play an old-fashioned board game with a child.

This recent article in the Washington Post shocks me:

Michelle Hastings admits she’s sometimes cheated to get through a game of Candy Land with her 5-year-old daughter, Campbell. The board game can take just too long, she said. Disney Monopoly is another big offender.

Board game makers are heeding pleas of parents like Hastings and introducing games tailored to busy lives and shorter attention spans that take only about 20 minutes to play.
Hasbro Inc., the nation’s largest game company, is releasing a streamlined version of The Game of Life that uses a Visa card rather than cash and a "LifePod" that electronically keeps track of points _ which can keep the game moving. The Pawtucket, R.I.-based company is also introducing three "Express" versions of classic board games this year: Monopoly Express, Scrabble Express and Sorry Express.

Unbelievably, parents are cheating at board games to get them over with!  Apparently, taking 30 minutes out of their day to play a game with their kids just requires too much time.  Why is “leisure time” now just another thing to check off the to-do list?   Why can’t kids spend 30 minutes or an hour focused on one game? Why does playing with kids entail a sense of dread and a “how quickly can I get this over with and move on to the next thing” attitude? 

A recent article in the New York Times tries to explain:

Although those who are overworked and overwhelmed complain ceaselessly, it is often with an undertone of boastfulness; the hidden message is that I’m so busy because I’m so important…. Of course, it is not just in the work force that people are madly busy. Many people I know, who might be able to enjoy some downtime because their children are in school and they do not have paying jobs, pile errands on top of volunteering on top of working out on top of, well, you name it. When the children get out of school, they race from one activity to another, and if at some point life seems to calm down, then it is time to take on a big construction project, get a dog or have another baby.

Have we become a society where being busy equals success and having ample time to play games with your children means you have too much free time?