The Huffington Post – Dr. Peggy Drexler
“Modern parents are almost obsessed with filling up their children’s time. There are after-school classes, team sports, camps, lessons. What’s often missing from the schedule is time spent alone. Alone time is not time spent unsupervised, necessarily. Depending on the age of your child, that may or may not be appropriate. Instead, alone time is time a son or daughter uses to learn how to entertain themselves or just relax, without help or input from parents, siblings, friends, or babysitters. And it is a crucial aspect of the development of independence. In fact, studies show that children who know how to fill their time alone rarely feel isolated or lonely. Instead, they learn to be content with whatever situation is at hand and truly have fun being creative in the moment.” (more)