I read a post on Tumbr talking about "activity cravings" when you really want to DO something but you don't know what, and how it seems the more options you have, the worse it is. When I was a kid, we called this boredom.
When we were all very young (5 kids under 10), if one of us said "Muuuuum, I'm boooored" she would look at us and say "well if you can't entertain yourself I could use help with (dishes/folding laundry/etc)". It was always whatever she was actually doing in case we needed some mom-time and didn't know how to ask.
Most of the time, by the time she said "can't entertain yourself," we instantly said "nevermind" and went to find a cool rock in the back yard or whatever.
One day I was having a particularly bad case of the want-to-do-somethings and decided chores were better than boredom. I went to mom and spoke the magic phrase, her reply stopped midway waiting for me to run out of the room and I repeated, "no really mom, I am SO bored" and we did dishes together. :-)
Once dad got custody we never had time to be bored (assigned chores, after school programs, etc) and I think that's a shame.
Kids should be bored occasionally. I think it teaches self-direction & sense of self that is important as an adult.
