Help! Beating the "I'm bored" all summer long!!

[pjlippert]

Good grief!! It's barely the second week of summer and my son is already saying he's bored! I have him enrolled in summer school at the local Montessori where he will also do some Karate, Soccer, Space Camp, Swimming, etc.. I need this time so I can get my business going (now that his health and ADHD are under control). Plus, we are just not the type of Mother/Son team who can be around each other 24x7.

Before I wear out all of our after summer school play-date options, what else can we do?? Seems like most of what I offer up he doesn't want to do. It's interesting and the Pscyhologist shared this with me is that when he is on the ADHD meds, he won't be quite as enthralled with the Wii, Gameboy, TV, etc.. So, the good news is that the meds are working, the not-so-good is that I'm already running out of ideas!!

How do you all spend the summer with your kids?? He's seven years old, energetic, loves to play StarWars, Transformers, the typical all-boy stuff!!

Help my fellow Cathletes! Otherwise it's gonna be a VERY long summer!!

Thanks!
Pam

 

[spyrosmom]

I would have love to have been "bored" during summer break. When I was your son's age, both my parents worked, so I was home with older siblings. Mom left a list 12 miles long every morning, and that list HAD BETTER BE DONE by the time she got home. I swear we had the most mowed lawn and cleanest kitchen cabinets in the neighborhood. Even as I got older, and was a teenager, I'd wake up every morning to "THE LIST" Who's kitchen cabinets need emptying and scrubbing once a week? Ours, apparently. Kept us out of trouble, though.

Will he help with the housework? Nothing like free labor Seriously, though, its a good time to learn a little extra responsibility. Not that I'd make him scrub the floors daily. I think that is why to this day I hate to clean!

Check out your Forest Preserves and State Parks, they normally have things going on for free or cheap during the summer. Or just go for nature walks.

Does your library have summer reading programs? If you read enough at ours, the kids can get baseball tickets, and the adults can win gas and grocery gift cards and prize baskets.

Can you two volunteer somewhere together once or twice a week? Animal shelter? Homeless shelter? Library?

A lot of museums have free days, too.

Bug/worm/bird watching. DS likes to look for critters. Perhaps grow a small veggie garden? DS loves that, too. I don't know where you live, it may be a bit late to start from seed, but you should still be able to buy already started plants still.

When all else fails, and DS is complaining that he is bored, I tell him that is fine, but I'm not going to listen to him huff and puff and moan about it. I remind him he has friends up the street and a million toys to play with and books to read. If he doesn't want to do, that's fine, but I'm not going to listen to it. he can go to his room and be bored by himself. At that point, he'll usually figure something out. Not the best parenting technique ever, but I can only listen to so much huffing and puffing and self pity.

BTW, my son is 9.

Nan

ETA: I am not stay at home mommy material. I'd go nuts in a hour. No way, Jose. Def have to go to work. I'm not winning any mommy of the year, June Cleaver awards. I'm not "good" at kids, but we do all right.

 

[syzygy314]

I did a lot of reading! My mom and I would ride our bikes to the library and pick out books together. I had an older brother and younger sister, so we'd play ball and stuff outside together a lot. Puzzles, maybe?

This is a tough one!

 

[spyrosmom]

Me again!!!

Crafts! DS is big on crafts. Keep construction paper, egg cartons, glue, pipe cleaners, staples, tape, puffy balls, toliet paper and paper towel tubs, newpaper, white paper, paper plates, rocks, sticks, markers, crayons, pencils and all that fun stuff around. You'll more than likely end up with unrecognizable crafts all over the house, but its fun times.

Nan

 

[kathryn]

Does your local YMCA or recreation department offer classes, like art or sports or something like that? Would he be interested in getting into some kind of hobby?

 

[RapidBreath]

Thats too bad that he is only 7 otherwise he could do STS. I guess he is too little for that

He could try writing and illustrating his own comic book. I loved story starters when I was a kid. Thats where your teacher or parent puts together a simple shape and has lines for writing underneathe it and the kid fills in the drawing and the story.

Does he like art? There are a few good books on how to draw dragons at Borders. Also, foam airplanes are great activities.

 

[pjlippert]

WOWEE!! So very many great ideas!! Thank you sooo much! Looks like DS will not be able to be bored this summer after all!! I love the free labor idea! haha! Nan, I'm going to print out your list and add the other ideas as well! Look out, son, Mama has a brand new plan!

Pam

 

[maddiesmum]

Pam:

I would get together with mums of your son's classmates and organize a group: each week, one parent takes all 5 boys/girls for a day and that way, each parent is guaranteed a day off for 4 weeks out of 5. If you have a lake nearby, you could take them all swimming and to have fun at the lake for the afternoon, or you could hit a museum, movies, hike in the woods, etc.

Clare

 

[mspina]

I would have love to have been "bored" during summer break. When I was your son's age, both my parents worked, so I was home with older siblings. Mom left a list 12 miles long every morning, and that list HAD BETTER BE DONE by the time she got home. I swear we had the most mowed lawn and cleanest kitchen cabinets in the neighborhood. Even as I got older, and was a teenager, I'd wake up every morning to "THE LIST" Who's kitchen cabinets need emptying and scrubbing once a week? Ours, apparently. Kept us out of trouble, though.

Will he help with the housework? Nothing like free labor Seriously, though, its a good time to learn a little extra responsibility. Not that I'd make him scrub the floors daily. I think that is why to this day I hate to clean!

Check out your Forest Preserves and State Parks, they normally have things going on for free or cheap during the summer. Or just go for nature walks.

Does your library have summer reading programs? If you read enough at ours, the kids can get baseball tickets, and the adults can win gas and grocery gift cards and prize baskets.

Can you two volunteer somewhere together once or twice a week? Animal shelter? Homeless shelter? Library?

A lot of museums have free days, too.

Bug/worm/bird watching. DS likes to look for critters. Perhaps grow a small veggie garden? DS loves that, too. I don't know where you live, it may be a bit late to start from seed, but you should still be able to buy already started plants still.

When all else fails, and DS is complaining that he is bored, I tell him that is fine, but I'm not going to listen to him huff and puff and moan about it. I remind him he has friends up the street and a million toys to play with and books to read. If he doesn't want to do, that's fine, but I'm not going to listen to it. he can go to his room and be bored by himself. At that point, he'll usually figure something out. Not the best parenting technique ever, but I can only listen to so much huffing and puffing and self pity.

I beg to differ, missy!!!! WAY too many parents cater to their child's every last whim, and these kids are incredibly annoying to be around since they can't entertain themselves for more than 5 seconds. You are doing a GREAT job in my book!!!!!

BTW, my son is 9.

Nan

ETA: I am not stay at home mommy material. I'd go nuts in a hour. No way, Jose. Def have to go to work. I'm not winning any mommy of the year, June Cleaver awards. I'm not "good" at kids, but we do all right.

Again, phooey on this attitude. Stay at home mom does not == mommy of the year simply by default, and being a a working mother does not relegate you to bad mom status by default either!!!!!! Awesome suggestions you posted here, proving that you aren't so bad after all!

 

[RunninTeach]

These are all great ideas you've gotten. As a reading and language arts teacher, I wholeheartedly add my endorsement for reading throughout the summer. And if, in addition to his independent reading, you can read some with your son or aloud to your son and talk about the material, even better. Audio books are another option.

A couple of other ideas:

Service or volunteer hours.

A pen pal, whether snail mail, email, or video conferencing. Try www.epals.com for a reputable, safe resource used by teachers and parents.

 

[janie1234]

I would have love to have been "bored" during summer break. When I was your son's age, both my parents worked, so I was home with older siblings. Mom left a list 12 miles long every morning, and that list HAD BETTER BE DONE by the time she got home. I swear we had the most mowed lawn and cleanest kitchen cabinets in the neighborhood. Even as I got older, and was a teenager, I'd wake up every morning to "THE LIST" Who's kitchen cabinets need emptying and scrubbing once a week? Ours, apparently. Kept us out of trouble, though.

Will he help with the housework? Nothing like free labor Seriously, though, its a good time to learn a little extra responsibility. Not that I'd make him scrub the floors daily. I think that is why to this day I hate to clean!

Check out your Forest Preserves and State Parks, they normally have things going on for free or cheap during the summer. Or just go for nature walks.

Does your library have summer reading programs? If you read enough at ours, the kids can get baseball tickets, and the adults can win gas and grocery gift cards and prize baskets.

Can you two volunteer somewhere together once or twice a week? Animal shelter? Homeless shelter? Library?

A lot of museums have free days, too.

Bug/worm/bird watching. DS likes to look for critters. Perhaps grow a small veggie garden? DS loves that, too. I don't know where you live, it may be a bit late to start from seed, but you should still be able to buy already started plants still.

When all else fails, and DS is complaining that he is bored, I tell him that is fine, but I'm not going to listen to him huff and puff and moan about it. I remind him he has friends up the street and a million toys to play with and books to read. If he doesn't want to do, that's fine, but I'm not going to listen to it. he can go to his room and be bored by himself. At that point, he'll usually figure something out. Not the best parenting technique ever, but I can only listen to so much huffing and puffing and self pity.

BTW, my son is 9.

Nan

ETA: I am not stay at home mommy material. I'd go nuts in a hour. No way, Jose. Def have to go to work. I'm not winning any mommy of the year, June Cleaver awards. I'm not "good" at kids, but we do all right.

Oh my gosh Nan, . . Amen to you girlie!! High fives to you! You'd win the June Cleaver award in my book!

Now that my kids are 9 and 7 they have a list of chores that they do.

We sign up every year for the summer reading program AND we have a yearly pass to all the State Parks so we'll go on nature adventures weekly.

 

[maddiesmum]

When DH was teaching so was home with the kids in summer, he had a daily schedule, something like: Monday was nature day (take a walk along a trail, go to a park, go to the pond in the neighborhood and count tadpoles), Tuesday was pool day, Wednesday was library day (since the library had lots of programs on Wed, too so many friends were there also), etc. Plus daily there was 1) something academic - either a page in a workbook or a writing exercise (like a letter to Grandma) 2) reading (always sign up for the reading program at the library) 3) household chores (just a little bit every day). Having a basic schedule (structure helped DH's ADHD tendancies, too) provided some excited anticipation while also giving the kids some responsibility (can't go anywhere until the workbook page and the chores were done) and also have some input ("can we go see the baby herons on the next nature day?")

Seems like Sherry's husband has summer parenting down to a fine art! I also agree, Nan, your parenting has nothing to apologise for either, and I was raised a lot like you were: daily chores, the whole family helps out, Mum was not anybody's slave, as she reminded us on a daily basis! Schedules are great, trips, outings, friends, etc, but kids also need down time to lie on their bed reading the afternoon away, losing themselves in some imaginary play, splashing in the pool with friends with no other expectations than pleasing themselves, getting away from everybody for some solitary time or just pure, clean fun.

Clare