Weekend Assignment #190: alleviating boredom

Weekend Assignment #190: Share some of your favorite boredom-alleviating tactics from when you were a kid. (from By The Way)

I suppose I was seldom bored because I had six siblings, all younger than I. There's no way to get bored when you're eleven years old, have four brothers and two sisters, and the youngest is a baby. There was always someone younger to watch when we went outside, always someone tagging along to the playground, or the community pool, or just hanging around outside. I didn't mind it when I was younger.

For two years, I was between eight years old and ten, we lived in "the projects" in Manchester, New Hampshire. That was the most lively place we ever lived.

Kids were everywhere, a playground across the street, an open field behind the neighborhood for discovering little wildlife critters, and a long, steep hill beyond that field that became our winter olympics playground. Friends and neighbors were with us all the time. I'm sure the adults were keeping an eye on us from a distance. I don't remember anyone ever getting hurt when an adult wasn't nearby to deal with it.

There was a dumpster nearby that attracted our curiosities, although our parents forbid us to go near it, as well as a pile of sand left behind by the builders... we built cities in that sandpile... I often built tunnels, hills, and roads. Stickball, kickball, and jumprope were daily regular activities. We seldom played in the apartment when we lived there... it was too small for our family of six kids with one on the way, but I loved living there.

Mom always took good care of us while dad worked, but at some point she had to supplement the income through childcare, and began taking in kids... these were the days prior to opening an on-base nursery when we lived near Templehof in Berlin, Germany. I was fourteen by then.

When I was a teen, just before I was old enough to learn how to drive, I do remember many days of longing for another time, for the time I would be old enough to do what I wanted to do. I felt like I was living in chaos. It was more a perception than a reality. I turned to reading, writing stories and drawing. I had friends who shared my interests, and we'd write stories together, often working on the same story. And we'd listen to music.

We were not financially well off, so we were limited to what we could do on our own, with our own imaginations. There was no mall to hang out at, and movies were too far away to walk to. Things I could do to entertain myself had to be found right around the house. I was a very introspective child growing up. Still am. Probably another reason why I didn't get bored very often.

Tactics to relieve boredom?  I remember when my son was a boy, and I heard him utter those words one summer, or during other vacation days. I tried to alleviate it by planning activities during the days he'd be home. Since we lived about ten miles from the closest city, my favorite tactic was to invite a friend or two of his over to spend the night/day, or even a weekend... one kid gets bored easily enough, but two or three can play together.

We live about a quarter mile from a river... I'd take them fishing. We'd walk through the woods, down to the river, carrying a fold-out chair for me, and fishing gear for the kids. When they got tired of fishing, I'd let them play in a shallow stream with their toys while I sat back and read a book in the shade of the trees.

If they got tired of playing video games (I'm talking about Sega in the early days, when they were more popular than Nintendo), I'd give them a specific time that they could wrestle/fight/play in the living room with all the cushions from the furniture placed on the floor for them to fall on and bounce off. They loved running down the hall, launching themselves into the air onto those cushions.

If you have bored kids in the winter, like when there's a snow day... and if you are a stay at home parent, invite a couple of their friends over to spend the day. Make sure you have hot chocolate and crackers on hand, and lots of mittens, gloves, scarves, and hats. Keep in mind that the living room and dining room will be a mess for the duration, so let that concern go. It doesn't matter. What matters at the time is that the kids are enjoying a day of freedom in the snow, and you don't have to worry about the house because it's pointless. Houses can be cleaned after everyone goes home, or when spring arrives.

Let them play outside until they get cold, then they can come in (drop off all the wet things in a place where they can air dry), drink hot chocolate, play indoor games or watch a video, then they'll go back out and play some more. The intent is to let them play while you make movies of them playing with your camera. And if other adults are hanging around watching them slide down a hill, you can hang out and chat with them, or go in and read a book (or make cookies). The part about taking pictures of them playing is important because it's a real treat to look at them 20 years later. They grow up so fast.

You can probably tell that these are some things I did when I was a stay-at-home mom... over 12-20 years ago. I call them the good ol' days because I really did enjoy them. I enjoyed having the kids come over to spend the day or the weekend... I enjoyed listening to them talk as they watched tv, or as they played with the toys. I video taped the kids playing, talking, skating, at baseball, bowling, scouts, eating dinner, making things out of clay, .... you get the picture.

There was never a dull moment. I don't remember much boredom.

When my son got older, and said he was bored, I had a favorite response:

"It's okay to have nothing to do... sometimes there is nothing to do. You don't have to fill every minute with doing things. Sometimes you just need to do nothing for awhile."

If that didn't work I'd say "If you are bored, I can put you to work.." (cleaning the bathroom was a favorite, yardwork another). That usually worked.

He seldom mentioned the b-word, actually. I think he's a lot like me in that respect.

There are times I will do nothing because I want to do nothing... I think of it as incubating, or cocooning... the mind and body needs some down time while the inner transformations take place.

We know and understand this asan adult, but kids have a hard time with that one. I think it is important for them to allow themselves some down time of doing nothing, balanced with an otherwise active life to include playing outside, and reading every day (at least 20 minutes!)

How did you alleviate boredom when you were a kid?

Tags: boredom, how to alleviate kids' boredom