Summer vacation just ain't what it used to be. Or, maybe it's that kids just aren't what they used to be. As a kids, I grew up with a river on one side of my house and a forest on the other side. There was always something to explore or something to do. Even though we didn't live near any of our friends, my sisters and I always managed to entertain ourselves. We would play in the woods for hours, following trails and playing make-believe. We would swim and fish and paddle around in our little rubber boats. We had toys we actually played with, (toys that didn't connect to the television). We would ride our bikes up and down highway 7 to and from town (2kms away) to play in the park or play baseball. And we did all of this ON OUR OWN. We did not need our parents hanging over our shoulders every minute of the day telling us what to do. We were not enrolled in endless nights worth of structured activities. Summer was our time. So why is it then that my children seem to have no clue, and I mean none, about how to entertain themselves.
My eldest is currently standing directly behind me, staring at the computer screen. He will do this until I suggest something else for him to do, or threaten him with no tv if he doesn't figure out somewhere else to be. If I get up right now and go upstairs, within one minute there will be the sound of little feet following me up the stairs, into the kitchen, the living room, the bathroom, anywhere I go. They will inevitably ask me eighty times if they can please turn the tv back on. Pleeeeaaaasssseeeeee. Or can they please play Wii or go on the iPad. Forget the fact that there is currently about $500.00 worth of toys sitting in our living room. My children consider playing with actual toys to be an absolute last resort for entertaining themselves. Even though they begged and pleaded for each and every one of those toys, they seem to think of playing with them as just filler for the time in between cartoons.
Even when we're camping they don't seem to think there is anything to do. They will sit there, surrounded by nature, with unlimited places to explore, look me straight in the eye and in the winiest possible voice declare how bored they are and how there is nothing to do.
I thought about signing Alex up for summer camps last year, but he said, "No! I just want to spend my summer playing with my friends". I thought this was great, until I realized something. There are no friends in the summer. With most families having two working parents almost all my kids friends spend their summers in summer camps or day care. The streets and parks in our neighbourhood are empty in the summer months. It's kinda creepy.
So, I'm rather at a loss for how to teach my kids to entertain themselves and to find the motivation to get out and do things on their own. I never had to be told to go entertain myself, it just kind of happened. So far they watched tv for four hours this morning. FOUR HOURS!!!! Then I turned it off. We all cleaned our bedrooms, which took longer for some than for others. They have played Lego and dinky cars and are currently in a war over who gets to use the downstairs bathroom first. (Alex won). We have four more hours until dinnertime. So far the only thing that gets them thinking on their own is when I tell them that if they're bored, there's always the homework books I bought. As soon as I whip out the math books Alex disappears.
I wish!
Well, I'm off to see what my kids aren't doing. It's quiet upstairs right now, so twenty to one says they've turned the tv back on or are hiding in a closet with the iPad. Sigh.
Michy
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