Living the dream: Bored!

Well, with the weather change, there is less outdoor play, and more indoor play, and already the kids are getting bored! It's going to be a long winter. They do get to go outside in the afternoons, when it warms up, and they wear jackets, but no more jumping down from breakfast and heading straight outside. They were getting used to that, especially Little Boy.

I've been working with them more on preschool-type activities, of which I have plenty, but they are already bored with them. No one likes to color, draw or write, even though I have coloring pages, and workbook sheets, and several kinds of markers, colored pencils and crayons. Don't forget that at ages 4 and 6 they didn't even know how to hold a pencil or crayon. They still don't hold them correctly, but they're getting better. They just don't like to.

They also are bored with sorting, matching and stacking. Little Girl loves to play with toy dishes, and will set 20 place settings around our large dinner table. She will pretend to eat, and pretend to feed imaginary people. Big Girl usually hangs with her for awhile, and manipulates the toy dishes, and moves them from one pile to another, and Little Boy will take one toy off to bang on things with it.

Big Girl loves to look at books, and never gets bored with that. She will eventually stop looking at the books, and start moving them from a pile on one side of her, to a pile on the other side of her. She also likes to just sit on someone, and gaze into their eyes, and move around to get more comfortable, not caring that she's getting a bit large and heavy, and that it's somewhat uncomfortable for the person she's sitting on, especially with knees, and elbows...

Little Boy is starting to get really mischievous, which makes you think of a little boy who wants to explore everything, and doesn't mind getting into trouble, and maybe even tries to get into trouble a bit. Actually, he's that without the trying to get into trouble part. He really just wants to explore, and doesn't care what you think about it. He is a bit of a loner, I would say, but very curious, and wants to know what happens when you turn water on, and just let it fill up the sink, and pour out onto the floor... And what happens when you push this button? Or pull on this cord? Or try to stick these into those slots? We say he is all boy, with some Down syndrome thrown in. No interest in girlie stuff, that's for sure, and not much into relationships, either.

Well, one thing they all love is watching movies, and like the rest of us lazies, they default to that when there's nothing else interesting to do. They now have their movies memorized, I think, and there are some that they like better than others. They are all educational, like Baby Einstein, Baby Babble, and Signing Times, but they're still TV, and there has to be a limit. I am saving TV time for electronic babysitting lately, such as when I really need to get something done, or need to take a shower, etc. There are some around here who would say that anytime is a good time for the electronic babysitter (sigh...) but that's why I'm the mom, and that's why I get to make decisions, and put limits on things...

I've always said that a little boredom goes a long way in homeschooling, and after the seeming agony for the uninterested and unmotivated homeschooler, they begin to find things that are interesting and creative. Sometimes they even get really good at something. J. got really interested in piano and gardening, R. got really interested in writing fantasy fiction, L. got really interested in all things scientific and historical, S. is rediscovering her love of art, and B. has discovered a knack for all things mechanical. You never know which way they're going to lean. So even though the new kiddos are bored, and it's difficult to watch, knowing their background and lack of stimulation, I feel that I have to go with it, and see which way each of them starts to lean, and then encourage them in it. Who knows what we'll discover?!