This is an “accidental” parenting tip. . .

Less is more.

It’s not like we are consumed with family activities here – a lot of times a “family activity” is just getting errands done together.

But I do like to plan things with my kids, often things which cost little or no money. Walks in the forest preserve near our home. A day at the beach. Picnics. If we go to see a first-run movie ( we saw “Ratatouille” last weekend – fantastic!) we’ll go to the older less expensive theater that gives free popcorn refills (which I usually don’t tell them about.)

Then there are the times when, yes, we’ll go the amusement park or the circus and I know I’ll be spending money.

I don’t try to go to “Vanity Fair” type places and not spend money. I realize other families do it as a matter of course, but my youngest will ask for a cell phone and/or an Ipod when she just walks into the Target store so I try not to give her a “target rich environment” when it comes to “stuff.” But that happened yesterday and it was great. We were set to go to the zoo in Chicago (with free admission) but ended up taking a walk near the beach first, and decided to head over to Navy Pier.

For those who aren’t familiar with it, Navy Pier is a combination circus and amusement park. Seriously. Every two feet there is a ride, a toy to buy, a boat cruise offered, an attraction needing a ticket, a game, an arcade requiring admission, for acquisitive kids it’s a panacea. Everything is a fortune. Call me a scardy cat but I tend to avoid the place like the plague because I don’t want to deal with the battles that it produces.

And then I decided – we’ll try it. I told my kids “we’ll go in and walk around and you’ll get an ice cream [I’d previously promised] an that’s it.” I’m a little embarrassed to say this, but to my amazement (that’s the embarrassing part) we had a great time. They played in the kids’ fountains, looked at the boats and the views, drew pictures in their sketching books of what they were seeing, and pretty quickly just stopped asking for the stuff that was being offered to them every minute. We were there forever, and they just had fun talking and playing, and looking at all the attractions, and coming up with games like “worse case scenario” (You’re stuck in an elevator, and the walls start closing in – what do you do?” Okay, that’s a little weird but it was fun.)

Who knew?? They learned they could have a blast without getting “stuff” even when “stuff” was all around them, and I learned it too. Now, I’m not going to take my kids to Great America and say “no” just to make them miserable! I’m just saything look, maybe I’m a little late to catch on here, but I think occasionally scheduling time for kids to be in fun places surrounded by attractions (and junk) they can’t have and don’t need, and encouraging them to have a great time anyway – and they probably will – can be a pretty good experience for everyone.

Less really can be more.

Happy Parenting!

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