“Your Boredom is Your Responsibility”

The witty catchphrase above is a response I used for a time with Oldest Son when (for two years in a row) he would hang around me chanting that favourite mantra of children everywhere:

“I’m bored, I’m bored, I’m boring, it’s so boring.

I’m bored, I’m bored, I’m bored, it’s so boring.”

I was listening to the latest production of the Daddy Dialogs and a comment of Roland’s reminded me of this time in my life. The Bored Mantra would get particularly bad during Summer Holidays.

Now I know I wrote about this only 10 months ago. And many of you have already responded there with how you combat what I called the Boring Song in that post (basically the same as the Boring Mantra, but a even more annoying). What Roland reminded me of was one of the strategies I used to good effect during one Summer holiday when Oldest Son was 6 or 7.

Basically, I made a list of activities, had he and his little bro add a few ideas, then stuck it on the fridge. Each time I’d hear the chanting begin, he (Big Brother) would have the choice of going to his room for an hour OR choosing something from the list. Yes, there was resistance. Yes, it didn’t always end the grumbling instantly. But it worked and it did put the respsonsibility back on him.

For new readers, I’m always interested in boredom busters as well as strategies to help kids stop pestering parents when they could be using their brains and bodies more appropriately…