When the children were young I would never countenance any whines about being bored. ‘Make a cake… Paint a picture… Invite a friend round… Do a jigsaw…’ was always my standard retort. It’s the same now with the little folk. When I have George and Liam round I plan loads of things for them to do. Last Sunday week my lesson plan went badly wrong. I planned a day’s activities that lasted less than two hours: making badges, playing drums (mad!), baking, gathering sticks and turning them into decorations, reading stories, drawing penguins … In the end I held up the yellow flag and put on the TV. Do boys have shorter attention spans or is it just these boys? I remember my girls would sit and colour or read for hours. Oh well…
The thing about inculcating habits of ‘not being bored’ is that when children become adults they remember what they did… and do it for themselves. Susie is making gingerbread people – why just men? Each one has its own identity. Mine has glasses. You can eat these as Susie’s hands are clean – unlike little boys!
