Right now I have my laptop fired up, my cell phone beside me, the TV on and for good measure, the laundry next to the couch, guilting me into folding it. If I'm watching TV, I'm also reading a magazine or playing on my phone. If I'm cooking dinner, I'm also cleaning or re-arranging or picking up. What can I say, I love to multitask.
On the rare occasions when I feel boredom setting in, I hear a voice in my head saying, "If you're bored, I can give you something to do so you wont' be bored."
That voice is my mother's.
For some reason, she really and truly hated when we were bored growing up. And you guys know as well as I do that as a child, there is no reason to be bored. I had toys to play with, books to read, even a nice swingset with which to swing. But when you're young, you don't realize the abundance of awesome (and minimal non-awesome tasks like mopping and grocery shopping) at your fingertips. You take them for granted. You get bored.
 |
| Sister and I not being bored. Yes we are in my toy box. we thought "outside the box" by getting "inside the box". Innovators? Maybe. (probably) |
We quickly learned that if we were bored, we should keep our mouths shut about it, already, for crying out loud.
I didn't realize how much this effected me until the first time my husband said he was bored. I immediately came up with 15 things that he could do instead of being bored. My Mom's voice was speaking through me. I think he's learned not to say he's bored, too.
Of all the things I've learned from my mother, I think this has been the most practical. I can't wait to use it on Baby Blogworthy someday.
What have you learned from you Mom? What do you do when you're bored?
Post inspired by Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop: 2.) Things my mother taught me.
24 comments:
Yeah I feel as though I could never be bored when I'm at home. The only time I'm allowed to be bored is when I'm at work. And that's what blogs are for. Uh, and work I guess if anyone in my office is reading this.
I always tell my kids "I don't believe in bored." My oldest knows to take his moping, bored face away from me or he'll end up dusting and folding laundry.
Are you sure we didn't have the same mom? I just never seem to get bored either. Maybe it's because I'm so...oh, I don't know...lazy. (Nah!) My mom taught me numerous helpful lessons. My daughter doesn't think I taught her anything, however. Sigh...
A mother's "advice" does come back when you have a little one. I find myself saying things my mom said to me and it is scary sometimes! I'll have to remember this one for my kids when they tell me their bored...thanks!
when kate whines about being bored, i tell her i'm going to throw out all her toys, and she's instantly playing!
Oh my gosh, this totally cracked me up! I am the same way. I totally can't just lay and watch TV. I always need to be doing something else productive.
I HATE hearing the kids exclaim they're bored. The other thing I hate? When the hubs asks what I want him to do around the house. There is always a list of at elast 18148 things, but none of them that he actually WANTS to do. So he just ignores my suggestions.
The best advice drilled into my melon by my mother was to make sure I always had clean underwear on. You never know when you're going to be in an accident.
The hell?
Bored was never allowed! The things we had to do if we were "bored" were never fun. I had a very active imagination though. I think growing up in a generation where being outside not in front of the TV or a video game also helped.
Hahaha, that's awesome! I was rarely bored as a kid (I had a sister to annoy and an acre of land to run amok on), and if i get bored now I usually read a bit or take a quick nap...because if I'm bored it's because I'm cranky and probably tired to start with!
We weren't allowed to be bored either. Because there was always laundry to fold and vacuuming to do. And if there wasn't...we were told to read a book. Amazingly...my brother was never bored since he hated to read. Me? I read...a lot. Best lesson ever.
Look at how cute we were! Total innovators, for sure!!!
When I was younger, I used to spend a couple of weeks over the summer at my aunt's house. She lived in Louisiana and there were a shit-ton of pine trees there. Whenever anyone would say they were bored, she made them go outside and pick up pine cones. It was the worst experience EVER. And you learned never to say that word out loud again.
My daughter is always bored it seems. Maybe I should take some lessons from your mom on how to make her less bored or at least stop whining about it.
Jessica
http://mytimeasmom.com
You pretty much described me in this post: laptop, nook, cellphone, remote control, several books, pens, highlighters and notepads, and my knitting all near me in the living room. How could I ever get bored!
I love this! Oh, so true. It was always better to keep your mouth shut if you were bored.
Nowadays, it's my father-in-law who constantly complains about boredom. And time and again my husband and I say things like "You're bored? Clean your room! Do your laundry! Take out the trash!".
Ugh, I hate myself!
I laughed all the way through this. Your mom and I would get along well. Although I don't multitask quite like you do, I am queen of coming up with horrid tasks when my kids are bored. They've learned to stay far away from me and to never, ever proclaim boredom. I like it when they forget. Free slave labor!!
Ahhhhh! While I was workin my 70th hour at work this week, my husband (unemployed, SAHD husband) was posting on FB how he was soooooo bored and I cringed and immediately followed it with a message on all of the housework that needed to be done and that I would not be doing on my ONE day off.
I can totally relate.
"Bored" was a four-letter word in our house. Besides being bad at counting, my parents were also hardcore. As a result, I have no, none, absolutely zero tolerance for the word or the feeling. My boys must have sensed this from birth, because it has yet to be an issue. But they're only 8 and 5. I imagine this is a battle awaiting me on the horizon.
And Mama will win. Mwahaahaaa.
(I'm still laughing at Foxy's comment. Brilliant! Too bad we don't have pine trees.)
When my husband first whined at me my mother's voice spoke through me as I calmly told him "I can't hear you when you're whining"
Bored? I don't even know what that is! Too much to do.
My kids will whine about not knowing what to do and it drives me insane.
I don't even remember what bored feels like. *sigh* Bet it's awesome.
What's so incredibly hysterical about this is that my mother did the SAME THING!! So, I learned to not be bored. This has really served me well during deployments because I cannot even tell you how many times I hear Army wives (usually the ones without jobs or school or kids) say "I'm bored"...and I want to say "well here is a list of thing you can do to help me out." So, yeah...Mama Miller doesn't get bored. Ever. I might get restless from time to time, but not bored. I'm really glad you're going to pass this on to Baby Blogworthy because it's a great trait to have and will serve Baby for YEARS to come. And will make him a true contribution to society. Bored is totally a dirty word.
My husband is the one that says he's bored too. I also do the mental list of things I could have him do as well. I never say them though. I like having him around.
If I get bored, I probably put in some West Wing and fantasize about American government.
Popped over from weekend spotlight. Good post.
Post a Comment
Fulfill your burning desire to discuss my blog. Go on, just cliky below and type your thoughts. I'm listening.