It's summer-time and in between the seven thousand trips to the beach, camping excursions, biking, hiking, trampoline-jumping, sprinkler-hopping, ice-cream-licking, fishing, baseball, soccer, ball hockey, horse-riding, arguing ....
in between all of that crazy activity -
my kids inevitably get Bored.
I'm really not even sure how that's humanly possible with all that we have going on;
there is so much going on over here in the summer that my family calendar is colour-coded for each child and Every. Single. Day. has something written on it!
I'm really not even sure how my kids find time to be bored.
I'm pretty sure I haven't penciled time in for that sort of business and I certainly have not colour coded it.
So I tried to officially outlaw everything to do with being Bored. The actual word was chalked up to being a "swear-word" and was shamefully tossed in with all the other banned "bad words". We began referring to it as the "b-word". If a child was saying the b-word or beginning to feel the onset of b-ness, I would launch into long lectures of "use your time wisely; and when I was a kid I never got
b-ed because I was too busy walking everywhere uphill; and if you keep feeling b-ed, I could give you a job to do..." blah blah blah
But lately, I've been doing a little thinking.
And lately my thoughts have been that perhaps a little Boredom is a little Good.
You see, I have a tendency to fill my kids' days. Like, right up. You know, to the brim.
With outings and exciting things and spring cleaning and coffee dates and sports and camps and maybe a volunteer opportunity or two. And then, popsicles.
And my kids have grown accustomed to having someone else fill up their time so that there is hardly any time or space left to wedge in any of their own things or thoughts or activities.
But I want them to develop their own thoughts and interests and curiosities because I have seen amazing things happen when kids follow their imaginations.
Amazing things that look a lot like invention.
Like when my one son glued a magnet to the end of a hockey stick so that he could find-and-retrieve coins from underneath candy machines at the local arena. He scored $5.25 in under-candy-machine- findings that day and a small crowd of awe-struck kids followed him around. He was pretty much famous.
Or when my friend's son carved and whittled his very own slingshot. That worked. We all had to do a lot of ducking at the hike that week.
Or when my daughter sketched, drew, and coloured about a thousand pictures that began to look an awful lot like Art. Art that was being practiced and perfected with every new drawing.
Or when another friend's daughter made colourful outfits out of socks for her stuffies. Designer duds outta pairless socks.
Like I said, amazing things that look a lot like invention.
So, this summer: I'm bringing Boredom back and giving it another name.
I'm calling it "Space".
As in....unwritten, unmade, undecided, empty Space that I will NOT fill up with long walks on the beach or an impromptu baseball game at the closest diamond.
I'm calling it "Space"
As in.....an untouched script
an untold story
a blank page
and it's all up to my child to do the writing, making, creating, inventing, telling.
I will NOT fill up all my kids' space this summer because I want their Boredom to push them to new limits that look a lot like their own limits and boundaries.
I want them to explore their passions,
pursue their curiosities,
expand upon their interests, and
let their imaginations amble and traipse down new roads of thought.
Sherry Turkle (professor, author, researcher and all-around smart person) writes :
"...the experience of boredom is directly linked to creativity and innovation.....it can signal new learning. If we remain curious about our boredom, we can use it as a moment to step back and make a new connection..." (pg. 39 "Reclaiming Conversation")
I love the idea of remaining curious about our boredom and that will be the tool to guide my kids when they bring out the b-word this summer.
Remain curious about Boredom. Ask why said child is feeling bored and what said child plans to do about it.
And be willing to stand back and let said child take the lead.
Fill the page.
Create the invention.
Write the script.
Make the plan.
Would you care to join me, this summer?
Wanna bring back Boredom and call it "Space" instead?
Maybe we can do it over a cup of coffee.
And the next time we hear one of our kids whining out the words, "Mooooom, I'm BORED", we can retort together:
"Baby, you ain't bored....you're on the Brink of Innovation!"
Happy Summer.
bvh
