I’ve heard this more than once in the last few days from J. Honestly, I’ve thought it myself a few times lately, and that’s usually when I got up and do some chores. It’s so frustrating to hear it from my kids though.
Why is it frustrating? Because they have the world at the tips of their hands. I’m not a restrictive parent, by any means. If there’s a project J wants to do, I’m all for it so long as she cleans up after herself. She also got a ton of craft projects for Christmas, so I’m not feeling much sympathy when she doesn’t know what to do. She could write thank you’s or her stories, she could read a book, she could play computer games or make use of the new wii. She could watch a tv show or a movie. She could play a game with X or send an email to her cousin. She could draw some pictures, or play with her hair, or just stare into space and daydream. These are all things I’d have done. But no, she’s bored. She wants me to micromanage her life, apparently. ugh.
I told her, I’m not your cruise director. Go find something to do for yourself! And she huffed off.
How can they get bored? They have so many options…or are there just too many?
December 29th, 2007 at 1:44 pm - Edit
In my experience, when kiddos say that or even “I’m bored” a lot, it is more a reflection of anxiety they are feeling and don’t have the vocabulary to express. They may not even know that they are anxious or what it is all about.
It can be so annoying when they do it because they sound so ungrateful and spoiled! Usually some physical stress-reducing activity or just a nice long talk will leave them feeling more centered. I think the root of the problem is sometimes that they don’t know what to do in order to relieve their anxiety. I usually don’t respond to the bored or what should I do comments and try to engage them in conversation about things they might be worrying about.
I hope that helps! I am obviously not be an expert on child psychology, but I know how my own brain works and worked when I was a kid. I can remember feeling like that and looking back I think . . .hmmm. .. this is what was happening to me!