Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Of Boring Summers and Good Times

I knew it was coming. I just can't believe that it has started so soon. I mean, school is not "officially" out until Thursday. Right now my boys just have to go to take their tests, and then they are free to leave. But, just a few moments ago I heard those words that I knew were inevitable. I thought it would be at least 2 weeks after school was out before I would be confronted with these words. Some of you probably have an inkling of what I'm talking about..."I'M SO BORED!" What?!! I told my husband that they had no idea what bored was!!! My response to my 17 year-old son was, "Well, go play outside." That's what I did when I was a young girl. I mean, we didn't have the Internet, the video games, the dvd's, cable tv (we had 3 channels), our own cell phone, texting, etc. I'm sure I'm missing something. We found ways to entertain ourselves. Kids nowadays don't know what it's like to be truly bored. When you are truly bored, you have NOTHING to do, and nothing to even pacify yourself! I blame it on society and all the technology that our kids have grown up with. It's kind of sad that they will never know the pleasure of a slower pace, of just going outside and walking down the street with a friend and talking FACE-TO-FACE, without their phone buzzing in the next text message. But, so is the way with life. Things change.

Come to think of it, I may have on rose colored glasses. Looking back at my childhood days, I can see that I had it pretty good, although I'm sure I didn't think so at the time. I seem to recall something about my parents telling me similar stories about their childhood and what they went through as teenagers. (I think I'm getting old!) And I was probably bored more times than I could remember. I would combat that by going over to my friend's house and hanging out with her. We would be bored together. It was more fun that way. Occasionally we would find something to do, like the time we sat empty soda cans in a line straight across the road one night. Then we hid in the bushes for the next vehicle to come down the road. Would they stop? Would they run over the cans and keep going? It was always fun...and a little bit scary to see what would happen. But, those memories will last a lifetime. When you live in the country you have to think up stuff like this to have a little fun. No harm done.

I also remember my cousin coming over and us going out to the edge of the woods to find a small limber tree. We would pull the tree down and hop on and jump up and down and see how high it would take us. Ah! Glimpses of my childhood, and these are the things I remember. I also remember my best friend, Kayla and me sitting in my bedroom, almost ready to go to sleep, and hearing an awful loud sound right outside my window! It literally scared the pee out of us! My dad laughed so hard when he came in to show us the contraption he had made to scare us. It was a tin can with a hole punched through the bottom. He had take an old nail & attached it to a piece of rope. Put the rope through the hole in the can (the nail held it in the can). Then, he soaked the rope in some kerosene. He carefully snuck up to my bedroom window, and put his hand at the top of the rope closest to the can. When he ran his hand down that rope it made an awful loud sound. Just the thing to make 2 young girls scream scared out of their wits! Good times, I'm tellin' ya.

Well, I didn't know that this post was gonna turn out this way. But, I'm certainly glad that it did. It brought back some wonderful memories that I never won't to forget. So, the next time my kids say that they are bored, I'll have a few suggestions for them!!

What are some of your favorite childhood memories? I would love to hear them!

7 comments:

Sue said...

Don't you love when posts take on their own life? - hee hee

Some of my favorite childhood memories are living next door to my Grandparents. I'd go over almost every day and help Grandma do her laundry or hang out with Grandpa in his wood shop. They had a lilac tree and pussy willow tree that I LOVED in the Spring. I miss them both so much sometimes it still hurts even after all this time (Grandpa died in '88 and Grandma in '99).

We finished up our Ladies' Group at church last week and I can relate to your boys - I'm bored already too with events being over. My life is so quiet without kids that I miss the weekly interaction with people ;-)

Have a great evening!
Hugs

Sandra said...

What wonderful memories! If only we could go back for just a day...

Thanks for making me realize the other end of the spectrum. I love my boys and husband, but sometimes I would just LOVE to have the house to myself, to spend the day doing anything that I wanted. I do get that occasionally, but rarely.

I hope you can find something else to immerse yourself into to give you that interaction you need. In the meantime, you always have your blogger buddies!
Take care! :)

Lisa said...

I don't ever remember being bored as a child. I spent a lot of time at my grandparents house in the country, and I played with all of the animals and talked to them just like they could understand me. I sat on a tree limb and pretended it was my pony. I am an only child, so being by myself has never bothered me. I played Barbies alone and I remember spending hours upon hours in my room listening to records. I agree with you that kids have to be entertained now. My kids never played outside besides when they were really small. They chose to watch tv, play video games, etc. It takes so much to keep the attention of even the youngest children these days. It's kind of sad that they can't slow down and enjoy just being kids.

rachel... said...

I am simultaneously dreading/looking forward to summer break.

I rarely hear the B(ored) word at my house. Maybe because when I do, I find TONS of stuff for my kids to do to keep them busy! Wiping baseboards, washing windows, putting laundry away, organizing toy bins.... ;)

Loren said...

I used to play in my grandmother's backyard for hours. Over the last 20 years things have changed so much in regard to technology. I used the pay phone at school and waited on line for it!

Unknown said...

Very strange how things have changed. But if they're ever BORED again put them to work!! : )

Saw this via Best Posts of the Week. Mine was featured too!

John
http://johnandstevearehavingababy.blogspot.com

Sandra said...

Thanks for sharing your childhood memories with me. It's nice to go back and reminisce.