“I’m boring” is the repeated refrain from a four year old who hasn’t worked out yet that it’s actually bored! It’s day one of the school holidays, he’s still at pre-school, and it’s already begun!
While it might be kind of cute that Little Yang thinks he’s boring, it’s not so much when you’re trying to work from home and his big sister doesn’t make much of an any effort to relieve said boredom – she’s already a bit jaded too. And there’s 8 weeks to go.
I would look to the blogosphere or Pinterest for school holiday activity ideas, but we’re all still pre-occupied with Christmas shopping and festive baking (some great wholefood recipes here from Natural New Age Mum if you’re interested) so the boredom-buster lists will have to wait until January (but Bron from Maxabella Loves has a great – make today a good day – list. )
Shame the kids can’t wait – for Christmas or the next thing to occupy themselves with.
Little does Little Yang know that he’ off to pre-school (or pre-prep) for his normal days of Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, so that will be his tedium sorted. Meantime Miss Yin will be enjoying play-dates, movies and even the joy of lolling about at home without an annoying little brother, as we do the juggle of swapping play-overs and work shifts and mostly making it work.
I was looking forward to school holidays and the end to the rush and structure, but will you permit me just one sigh. Sigh.
I read a post from Leo Babauto of Zen Habits about how our brains are stuck so much in fast mode that we are constantly busy, yet ironically also bored (he’s tagged the post – Whoosh). Funnily enough, his previous post was how to use deliberate delay as a tactic to overcome our need for instant gratification.
So I’m taking these ideas on board (as opposed to on bored)!
The Christmas period brings into sharp relief our society’s need for something shiny and new all the time – for constant satisfaction, instant gratification and even repeated distraction (hello FB) to relieve our boredom as much as anything.
The boredom of our busy-ness – paradoxical huh!
We don’t do deep concentration very well, and so we delay (or miss out on) deep satisfaction. We seldom stop to really savour.
We don’t allow ourselves to get so lost in the flow that we find ourselves.
I watched The Notebook again the other night (spoiler alert – is there anyone who hasn’t seen this classic chick flick?). I so love how he trawls (or reads) through a lifetime of memories so he can steal her back a brief snatch of recollection, of joy. It’s deep love and dedication of course – it’s never boring, even when you’ve watched the movie numerous times.
Now I don’t do play all that well either, especially not when there is work to be done, and I can’t believe the kids can be ‘boring’ on the very first day of school holidays. I will have to get better at it. And more patient, so my impatience doesn’t get boring. And deep, I really must get depth.
Meantime a moment’s joy of that special moment when the training wheels come off.
Are we there yet? Yep. Tell me what you think – are you boring, or easily bored? Boredom busters anyone? Linking up for another IBOT with Essentially Jess.
Kathy X
19 Comments on “On being boring”
Thanks for sharing the love 🙂 Merry Christmas! xx
You are welcome – Merry Christmas to you Sonia.
It makes me feel like we are really missing the point of it all. Too busy to be deep, and too in need of instant gratification to really appreciate. My kids would be too nervous to say they are bored. They know it would end with a rant…from me! Saying that, they are both pretty amazing at really enjoying whatever is happening or not happening.
That’s great that they can amuse and enjoy themselves with their imagination and presence. I know Little Yang is at a tricky age in terms of attention span and he will get better. Working on it with meditation with him too. But we have to set an example don’t we!
What an interesting post, thank you. With 5 children, I am always excited about the holidays, until the first day, and no matter what I have planned, it is always boring and I have unhappy kids at the end of the day. It’s about then the reality of holidays with so many kids kicks in. That was until we learnt to slow down, take time in the moment, and be at peace. We are still learning and not always so good at it, but when it is working, it does work for us quite well. xx
Great that it is working for you (at least some of the time). Five kids would certainly make for a busy combination and great that slowing down is part of the answer for you. Thanks for visiting Nicole.
Hey hey well done little man. That is very clever! I have to laugh at the I’m boring. My daughter says it too. It never fails to give me a laugh. I like your par about being bored and busy. I hear you. Bring on those holidays and a chance to slow down and live again. #teamIBOT
I love the things they say. It really is strange how we can be both busy and bored almost simultaneously!
I think the school holidays get easier as they get older. This is the first year I am looking forward to the 6 week stretch. My girls and I have a good rhythm going balancing doing and chilling and being together or time apart. I might just enjoy it this year. Hope they find a balance between being bored and creating some fun times with you xxx
You and your girls are so crafty together. I wish I was more crafty, but it is also the fact that I have to work (I do have almost 2 weeks off over Christmas/New Year) so I really have to make the effort to have a crafty day (and a crafty day with a 4-year-old and an 11-year-old isn’t so easy).
I remember being a teenager at family bible camp and complaining to my single mother that I was bored, so bored. I remember my old fashioned Grandpa getting his mits on my arms (I do love him) and telling me to snap out of it, and smarten up. It didn’t work. I was then an angry AND bored teenager. I am find that I am constantly feeling guilty now that I can feed my 17 month old son’s boredom. I feel like it’s not fair that he needs a good play and I have to clean or cook. Poor kid. I think he just needs a sibling but as you pointed out – they can just be annoying. haha.
Teenagers and boredom go hand in hand, but I think they get bored at any age. Having said that, I think kids are growing up now with way less tolerance to boredom than we had as kids, without so many opportunities for distraction. Toddlers are always going to keep you on your toes, but 4 and 11 year olds should be able to amuse themselves for a while – perhaps that’s why they fight – to amuse each other! Thanks for visiting Jess.
OH damn. I wish I had edited that before hand. I see I missed some letters in words. My husband called just as I was going to check, but I instead hit post. 🙁
I think that boredom is a very under-rated and under-utilised gift, but people fear it. We’re all about constant distraction and constant stimulation, and I don’t think it’s a good thing. I think boredom can be a really healthy thing.
I agree Melissa – just got to use the gift of boredom for imagination not procrastination!
Everything seems to be geared toward short attention spans and want want want. My old bestie’s mum used to say “There’s no such thing as bored- just a lack of imagination!” Her kids were never allowed to moan that one to her!
Love that line – I think our Mums had much less tolerance for our boredom than we give our kids these days. Thanks for visiting.
SNAP I watched The Notebook the other night, LOVE it. I love when I have time to be bored, I never get much time to but when I do I LOVE it!
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