As a single mum, I often fight the desire to keep Wolf always entertained. Play dates, playgrounds, painting, the zoo, toy shops, books. It’s as if every moment has to be special and engaging and I recently rebelled.
While preparing lunch, I was reminded of my own childhood and the games that resulted from boredom… Branches that fell from our beautiful Jacaranda became microphones, weapons or wands. Old cardboard boxes transformed into chalkboards for when I taught my poor (younger) brother at “school”.
It wasn’t mum’s job to keep life interesting; it was her job to keep us fed, healthy, protected and warm. We had to come up with the rest.
Thinking about this lead me to examine how much I shun boredom, especially when I’m alone. We all seem to do it in some form; we’re all so busy (isn’t this the usual response to the question of, “how are you?” these days?). And even if this is genuinely the case, should we be scheduling in time for nothing? Is it really that absurd? Are we that addicted to activity and feeling virtually connected? Continue reading
Catherine Donnelly 