Q: My kids constantly complain of boredom. With the long summer months looming, I'm dreading the cries of "I'm bored" after the first few days of vacation. Any ideas?

 

A: When I was 13, I engaged in the usual teenage drama, including the famous "This place is so boring!!" My parents had a sure-fire cure for boredom. One Saturday morning, my step-father led me into the kitchen and proceeded to take every plate, cup, bowl, platter and glass down from the cupboards. With 7 kids and 2 adults in the family, that added up to a lot of dishes to wash. And dry. And put away. Then there was the silverware and the pots and pans. It took me all day. I never realized how many dishes a family could use until I had to wash, dry, and put away and then use at lunch and then wash, dry and put them away, again. And then it was dinner time and I prayed that my mom wouldn't use too many pots and pans. I then had to wash the dinner dishes. And dry them. And put them away.

 

I was the oldest of 7 kids, and my younger sibs laughed and would make multiple trips to the kitchen for a clean glass for their water. I plotted special revenge. However, the lesson was lost on them as they each at some point had their turns at boredom-busting work. My brother especially hated cleaning out the window wells of all the bugs, dirt, and pollen.

 

Many parents, and grandparents, had absolutely no problem with telling children to "Find something to do, or I'll find something for you to do." We knew they didn't have in mind a trip down the road for ice cream!

 

That story of my childhood should give you some ideas. Below are a few more ideas:

Plan a routine...for example, library on Monday, park and a picnic on Wednesday, a local museum or botanical garden on Saturday. Give the kids something to look forward to. Have a daily "quiet time," where the kids have to find a quiet activity to do and give you some peace. Books from the library give them something to do - read - at home. Encourage them to choose books on crafts or simple science experiments that they can do at home. Have on hand some of the supplies in a bin so that they can experiment without you having to be involved. Let them scavenge for other needed items.

 

Why not help them to start a garden? Tomatoes are fun, especially cherry tomatoes. Or flowers. How about showing them how to grow a sunflower house? Most kids love sunflowers, and making a house from them is a cool idea! You can read about sunflower houses in this book by Sharon Lovejoy: Sunflower Houses : Inspiration from the Garden - A Book for Children and Their Grown-Ups

 

They should have a routine of chores as well...make their beds, pick up their rooms, clean up their place after breakfast, sweep the floors. Make a list and post it on the fridge, along with when you expect the chore to be finished.

 

For rainy days, have some special activities that are just for rainy days...a special video and popcorn, painting or other arts and crafts supplies, whatever you think would be a treat for rainy days.

 

A little preparedness on your part will go a long way toward eliminating "I'm bored!" And if they do use that phrase, give them something to do that will make a memorable impression. A 10 minute job won't accomplish that. A relatively unpleasant task that is time consuming will be a great boredom buster! My sibs and I still remember what our "mean parents" did to hammer that lesson home, and it worked!
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Julie Clark is a freelance writer as well as the Web Manager for DrDaveStein.com, www.StopRAtoday.com  and www.AskMeanMom.com Julie also responds to parenting questions on the members' side of DrDaveStein.com