10.09.2010

the benefits of boredom



I'm of the school that says that parents do NOT need to entertain their children. "I'm bored," is a swear word in our house and my kids have learned not to say it. Instead, they create their own fun. This morning it was paper num nums taped to the seven-year old's chest, and a baby to nurse on them...

19 comments:

naomi said...

thanks for the laugh!! Children can come out with the most creative things when we least expect. This is great!

Shell said...

gold star for such a unique idea!!

i would have died to see my 7yr old doing that haha, but the old dolly-under-her-tshirt thing has sure happened before

Erica said...

This is hilarious! I hear so many funny conversations between my 8 year old and my 5 year old. Thankfully, they prefer to play pretend together, as opposed to watching tv. I am not sure if I agree with this statement or not, but my Dad used to say to us when we were kids that "People who say that they are bored are boring people."

Hildie said...

That is priceless.

Rochelle Barlow said...

I can't stop laughing! I love it!

chris said...

Deep belly laughs on this one...oh my goodness. I think I actually made a "guffaw" noise. I echo the "bored"=swear word feelings.

alex t said...

Yes! Agreed...in fact someone recently told me to be as boring as possible and to watch what happens. After about 5 minutes the most ingenious creative play starts to appear, in with an 18 month old. Do you know the work of Kim John Payne - Simplicity Parenting? You may enjoy it! Thanks for the hilarious story!

Antoinette said...

Where's the "Like" button? That's fantastic. I wish the first month I nursed my child were that pain and discomfort-free. :)

Unknown said...

oh, that is brilliant!!! as soon as I saw that first picture I knew RIGHT what this was about!
xoxoxo

meg said...

I might just fashion myself a larger pair of tape on num nums!

Unknown said...

yeah, me too meg!

Unknown said...

yeah, me too meg!

Anonymous said...

*snort*

When I saw the top page I thought "those look like boobies. Oh, I'm such a perv. Surely they're something else".

No. They're boobies.

It has b een a different experience having an older child and a nursing baby for sure. Anna often asks me "which boob is he on?"

-liz

melissa said...

ha, ha, everyone's comments crack me up! Yes, I think I need some good tape-on num nums myself!

Bethany said...

I would love to be a fly on the wall in your home!!! ;) "I'm bored" is not allowed in our house either... though sometimes that backfires and I can never find them when there's some chore to be delegated!!!

Lisa said...

That's a riot!

Lauren said...

Ha! Love that girl. Good thing she didn't make it in school:)

Jacinta said...

LOL!! how funny are kids?! I wish mine was doing something productive like that now (or having her nap!) instead of chucking a tantrum on the time-out chair!!!
thanks for the smile!

MODELmumma

Unknown said...

Ha! That is so funny! For some reason nursing is so magnetic and mysterious to little people.
I also agree with the "I'm bored" stance. For the past two days Bruce has said, "I'm so BORED. There's nothing to DO." So I told him that fun people can always find something fun to do. And then I gave him a whole list of my chores he could take over if he thought that would cure his boredom. He stopped asking me for suggestions very quickly. :)