I learned at a young age that claiming to be bored did not fly with my parents.
“Only BORING people are bored,” my dad would remind me, whenever I made the mistake of expressing said feeling.
I took my dad’s words to heart, primarily because there is not much more disagreeable to me than being viewed as a boring person.
I mean, really. Is there any excuse, in this world of numerous activities and choices, for anyone to claim boredom? I don’t think I’ve ever actually been bored in my life. There is just too much to do. Restless, yes. Overwhelmed, sometimes. Overloaded, definitely. But never, ever bored. I don’t even have enough time in the day to do all the things I want to do, much less claim to have excess time to be bored.
Unfortunately, several of my children do not share my desire to be seen as a creative, interesting person. At the very least, they don’t care what I think.
The first time I ever used the line, “Only BORING people are bored,” thinking these magic words would put an end to the complaint for good, Andie waved them off. “Don’t you care if you’re a boring person?” I asked, aghast.
“Not really,” she said.
Evidently this line doesn’t work on every child, but for the kids that it does motivate, it’s a good one.
I have, however, found one motivational phrase that works like a charm for all my kids when they say they’re bored.
“If you’re bored, I can find some work for you to do.”
They clear out so fast, you can see the dust flying in their wake.
The last sentence worked for me!!!