| Summertime, and the living is "I'm bored!" |  |
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An odd thing has happened.
School has been out for two weeks, and I haven’t heard one “I’m bored” yet.
I’ve been afraid to mention it, fearing I’d jinx whatever’s going on, but it did make me wonder, what the heck is going on?
Part of it has to do with age; not mine, my kids’. They’re both teens now, one has his own car and a job, and so they don’t have to depend on me to get them around (which is a blessed thing in and of itself). Plus, I can leave them home alone without having child protection services sweep them away — although my house will be trashed, the fridge emptied and they’ll likely have spent hours before the TV, Xbox and computer (after waking up at noon, of course).
Sigh; I have learned to let go.
But I’m wondering if the bigger issue is the economy; instead of sleep-away camps and fancy Europe vacations, people are staying home. Suddenly, the streets and parks are filled with kids, which is how I remembered my childhood.
Not that I’m nostalgic for the past, but when I was growing up, my New York City neighborhood was a mass of kids. We’d ride our bikes up and down the street, play stoopball and Red Rover, build forts, climb trees, catch fireflies and chase the ice cream truck. I never lacked for entertainment, although I often happily spent dreamy hours on the cool grass, staring at the clouds and daydreaming. Yes, my family went to visit relatives for a few weeks every summer, but I knew that when I got home, my friends would be there. My parents never had to give my boredom level much thought.
My kids’ summers have been anything but that.
I never wanted to overschedule my kids — in fact, I wanted them to have the kind of free-form summers I had. But, their friends weren’t around, so “I’m bored” happened fast. I had to sign them up for activities and classes just so they could see other kids!
Maybe it’s just where I live — Marin is a wealthy area, and second homes and exotic vacations are de rigueur, even in these tough economic times. But I think the economic reality is forcing some people to reevaluate their lifestyles, I hope for the better.
Am I just getting nostalgic for my youth, or do you wish kids had carefree summers, too?
How do your kids spend their summer?
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