Boredom Is Contagious From Parent to Child

It’s a sad commentary on motherhood to read an article that implies spending about 10 weeks of the year with one’s children is so overwhelming (“Counting Down the Dog Days of Summer,” Aug. 2). There are plenty of things to do, so why are children bored? Because their parents are boring! It is just too much effort for them to take the time to search out things to do and places to go with their children. Relationships have given way to electronic games, computers and television--activities in which children are left to spend time on their own. Children have a good sense of what their parents feel. The message being transmitted is that they can’t wait to get rid of them and to pass them on to someone else.

The greatest gift parents or even grandparents can give our children is the gift of time. Moms and dads need to grow up and do the job; they are only young children for such a short period.

D. GABAI

Sherman Oaks