Columbia salesman Chad Ritchey published a children’s book after his daughter left for college, and he found being 'an empty nester a little tough.' Photo courtesy of Chad Ritchey

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If the grandkids are bored, don’t give them your iPad; give them a book.

That’s the advice of new children’s author Chad Ritchey, who wrote I’m Sooo Bored! What Should I Do? after grappling with that very question himself.

Ritchey, a 54-year-old resident of Columbia, Maryland, was an empty nester, missing his only child, Charlotte, after she’d left home for the University of Maryland. To fill his time, Ritchey decided to write a book for 3- to 7-year-olds.

“I just started writing stuff, silly stuff,” he recalled. “I thought back to what I used to do as a kid, [things like] throw a ball against a wall.”

The book urges children to use downtime for self-directed activities, such as taking a walk, throwing a ball, dancing or building a fort. Or why not “splash in puddles while it rains?”

It also asks kids to answer such questions as: How are you special?

Ritchey said he “wants to have kids doing things, using their imagination,” but recognizes that’s sometimes a challenge for kids and their parents.

“A lot of parents struggle,” he said. They’re often busy, so sometimes they take the easy way out” and give the kids a smartphone or let them watch TV.

Instead, he suggests, “Take ‘em places, do something with them. Make up a game; make up a story.”

Parents forget “how tough it is growing up,” Ritchey said, and how often kids get bored, particularly this generation, which tends to stay indoors.

Ritchey began writing the book in February and had a published copy in hand in May, he said. Although he used ChatGPT for the illustrations, he says the book’s 36 pages of written content are solely his own work.

The publisher, BookButler Publishing, sells the paperback for $15 on its website, as does Amazon. The book made Amazon’s Hot New Releases charts in three categories: Children’s Interactive Adventures, Early Learning Beginning Readers, and Children’s Self-Esteem Books, according to BookButler.

“We were able to get the book published on a relatively short timeline because Chad came to us with a very strong concept, a well-thought-out vision for the book, and a well-written manuscript,” owner Aaron Butler said.

Based in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, BookButler is a self-publishing firm, so authors pay “for the publishing work they need, such as editing, formatting, cover design, distribution setup, and related services” and retain full ownership of their work, Butler explained.

When children move out

Ritchey has no career experience as a writer; he’s spent 27 years in sales, currently as a salesman for a medical equipment company.

“I’m a road warrior,” he said, “on the road all the time. And I love it.”

Despite job-related travel and sharing custody of Charlotte with his ex-wife, Ritchey said he and his daughter developed a “great, close relationship.” That made being “an empty nester a little tough.” Sometimes, he said, he’d text, asking if she wanted to “come hang out with her dad.” But she’s busy with college, he realized, so “it ain’t happening.” The result: “I was the one who was bored.”

Putting down the phone, he thought about how addictive that device is to so many, including children.

“Growing up as a kid is a little tough — it’s a little tougher now, with social media.

“I wanted to teach [kids] a lesson: that they’re special. There are so many things they can do without the phones,” Ritchey said.

Giving back

Yes, smartphones are addictive, and Ritchey acknowledges his special insight into addiction. At age 17, he crashed his car while drunk and was hospitalized for almost three weeks in Maryland Shock Trauma. He said he later joined Alcoholics Anonymous and is now proudly sober for 30 years.

“I’ve had some demons, you might say, and I think with those learning experiences, I can help other people,” he said. “I need to give back now.”

So Ritchey drops off copies of his book at hospitals when he visits them for work. He also gives readings, most recently at The Haven in Annapolis, which serves refugees and where he volunteers every couple of weeks.

The classic question for any newly published author about their book is “How’s it selling?” But Ritchey isn’t interested in numbers.

“It’d be nice to sell millions of copies, but it’s not going to do that. I knew I wasn’t going to be a multimillionaire,” he said. “But it’s great to hand [the book] out to kids.”