Works for Me Wednesday: Don’t You Dare Say You Are Bored!

Our boys were told long ago that we feel very strongly that they have absolutely no excuse for saying, “I’m bored,” given the number of books, toys, and games stored in our home, and that if we hear them saying they’re bored, we will find a large garbage bag and send them off to fill it with the toys that  seemingly no longer hold their interest.

To date, this has been enough to keep those two dreaded words from passing from their lips, but it has not ended their whining requests for television time, computer time, or Gameboy time… which seem to me to be another way of saying, “I’m bored.”

Now, don’t get me wrong, our boys are given opportunities to watch TV, play on the computer, and use their Gameboy, and I’m fine with that.  They almost always choose an educational television show or documentary, they play on computer web-sites that have learning merit, and I never cease to be amazed by how incredibly talented my six-year-old is on the Gameboy (better than both his nine-year-old brother AND his father).  What I don’t like, however, is that no matter how much “plugged-in” time they are given, they want more!  They have a house full of items that encourage them to build, create, imagine, and dream, and yet, they will willingly let it all sit in favor of an electronic activity if given the opportunity to do so.  This expectation of plugged-in time, this reliance on plugged-in time,  is what I am rebelling against.   

Recently, a friend shared her brilliant fix for constant requests for plugged-in time.  When her children first request plugged-in time, she says, “Not at this time.”  When they continue to pester, she simply tells her children, “You are not going to have television (or computer, or Gameboy) time right now… and the fact that you are continuing to ask me for television (or computer, or Gameboy) time tells me that you need more time without it so that you will remember how to use your imagination and creativity.”  That’s it, end of discussion…

And it works!

Three repeated requests for television and computer time, two responses of “You are not going to have television or computer time right now… and the fact that you are continuing to ask me for television and computer time tells me that you need more time without it so that you will remember how to use your imagination and creativity,” and the boys were off to find something else to do.  They settled on taking their Cranium Super Fort Building Set outside… and worked at building forts, planes, and cannons (boys will be boys) for the next hour and a half… until I called them into dinner!  There was no more talk about television or computer time!