“It is like staring at a blank canvas and saying, ‘Oh my goodness, I need to fill this up. “We believe that boredom is a great thing because from boredom, all creativity comes,” Doug Bernstein said. But, Doug and Melissa Bernstein noted in an interview – boredom isn't just good for the bottom line, it is good for kids too. Not, however, because they are particularly sadistic sorts - but because the Bernsteins are the titular Melissa and Doug behind Melissa & Doug toys, and there is little in the world better for their business than bored kids.

Parents everywhere are thus faced with the annual two-headed dragon to slay: making sure their kids are adequately stimulated over the summer so as to not destroy the house from boredom and to make sure their kids retain as much of the previous school year's learning as humanly imaginable.īut while most parents spend the summer dreading boredom – and the various expensive interventions they will inevitably face agains it – parents of six Melissa and Doug Bernstein literally love boredom. “People call and ask, “What’s hot this year?’ And I say, ‘I have no idea.’ I’m looking backwards at what was amazing a century ago and trying to reinvent that.” Summer is upon us, the surest sign of which is the millions of children who have spent the last few weeks pouring out of classrooms as the school year comes to and end. We call them evergreen products,” Melissa says. “We want our products to be here tomorrow.

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