June 25 and bored already

Since the schools around here let out last week (or was it the week before?) we've had more than the usual number of encounters with schoolkids. And the word on the street is: we're bored.

Now I know I grew up in the dark ages but in the summer I don't think we were bored till at least the middle of August. But maybe my memory is faulty. I know it's easy to make things seem better back in the day. Still, it seems pretty early for the kids to be bored.

My kids don't get that. They aren't any more or less bored than any other time of the year. If anything they are thrilled that they have more time to pursue their own interests than usual. Math 3 days a week is much better than 5. I think they figure that kids who are stuck in school all day would be thrilled to have a break and get to stay home.

But maybe that's it. Most kids spend so little time at home they don't know what to do when they're there all day long, even though they have the Wii and the computer and lots of games at their disposal.

Don't even ask about books.

Of course I don't think the moms help much either. You'd think they'd love having more time to spend with the children they brought into the world. But, mostly, no. They don't know what to do with the kids either. (I am not talking about working moms who have to figure out places for their kids to go while mom and dad are at work. I am sure that is a special challenge and I am just thankful I don't have to deal with it.) They sigh about the kids boredom but seem powerless to do anything about it. Which they probably are, by the time the kids are school age.

We don't have a real exciting summer planned. Both kids have a couple of daycamps and the Scout has his 10-day Boy Scout camp up in the mountains. We have some historic sites to see, an amusement park to go to, lots of books to read in the hammock. Sewing and model-making projects. Visits to the town pool and the library. Playdates with friends. Card games to play - some we've owned for years that we've never even opened. A garage sale to prepare for - at someone else's house (the best kind). Bikes to ride. Church picnics to go to (and a couple to host). Water balloons to throw and shoot in the giant water balloon sling thing. Parks to hike through.

Tomorrow we're going to clean out the laundry room - I mean haul every single thing out, figure out what to do with it, and put it all away whereever it should go - and then walk the mile to a little luncheonette for soft-serve ice cream. Yeah, we do know how to have fun around here, don't we?

I feel sorry for the kids who are bored, I truly do. I feel sorry for their mothers who have to find ways to entertain their children and would rather they would get out from underfoot. I feel sorry for their dads who have to come home from work to bored complaining children.

But I'm glad my family doesn't have to be like that.