Parenting Life-Hacks: Avoiding The "Ignoring Their Interests Because They’re Not Serious" Trap

dr. Kristijan Musek Lešnik
Oct 12, 2025
2 min read

Parents love to divide the world into “serious” and “silly.” School subjects? Serious. Sports teams with uniforms? Serious. Minecraft, Pokémon, Roblox, TikTok dances? Silly. But tweens don’t see that line. For them, joy is serious. Their passions — no matter how pixelated or obscure — are the seeds of curiosity, creativity, and confidence. To them, they’re identity-building, world-expanding, and utterly serious in the moment. The danger is that when we dismiss those seeds, we risk choking off growth before it begins.

“Dismissing tweens’ “pointless” passions teaches them that joy only counts if it’s resume-worthy.”

AVOIDING THE TRAP

The goal isn’t to turn every interest into a career plan. It’s to respect the role hobbies play in growth right now.

Be Curious, Not Critical. Instead of: “Why do you waste your time on that?”Try: “What do you like about it?” or “Show me what you built.”They don’t need you to get it — they need you to care.
Spot the Hidden Skills. Every “silly” thing has skills underneath.
- Minecraft: architecture, planning, problem-solving.
- Pokémon: math, negotiation, strategy.
- TikTok dances: persistence, creativity, confidence.
- Roblox storytelling: writing, collaboration, coding basics.
Don’t Turn It Into Homework. They don’t need “Minecraft Math Camp” after one good castle build. Let hobbies breathe without piling on structure.
Celebrate Milestones. If they beat a tricky level, finish a drawing, or film a video, acknowledge it. You don’t need to be an expert to say, “That’s awesome.”
Keep an Open Mind About Real-World Value. The line between hobby and career is blurry. Plenty of today’s careers — content creation, esports, design — started with “pointless” pastimes. Even if it never pays bills, it still teaches persistence and creativity.
Share Your Own “Pointless” Passions. Tell them about your skateboard tricks, garage band, or endless doodles. Many of us had hobbies that didn’t “lead anywhere” — but joy itself was the point.
Set Healthy Boundaries Without Disdain. It’s okay to limit screen time or balance activities. Just make sure boundaries don’t sound like contempt. “Two hours is enough” is different from “That’s a waste of time.”