"Mom! I’m bored!"


first loose tooth!
Originally uploaded by Liz Henry.

Dude!

I just took you to the Japanese Gardens and a huge playground and an itty bitty train ride and the escalator at the fancy grocery store, and then the swimming pool with masses of other children whom you ignored. We played a board game, “Topple”. In between these activities you read comic books in an air-conditioned car. There was a brief entertaining math lesson. I let you buy gummy bears from a vending machine. Your loose tooth was admired. Your aunt gave you a Sacajawea gold dollar, just to be nice. We played gold-dollar hockey across the lunch table (where admittedly I was ignoring you in favor of extended wild cussing and ranting with your Auntie; this too is part of your accidental education.)

What I’m saying is:

Mommy needs to “work” now, in bed with the Internets, a huge biography of Langston Hughes, and a Spanish dictionary.

You may now enjoy all the rich, nuanced boredom of a summer afternoon. Kick around. Be listless. Start a project, getting out all possible supplies and every lego, and abandon that project. Leave mysterious signs taped to every door. Make things out of toilet paper. Such is your suburban heritage. Being healthily ignored for a few hours is an important part of growing up. Welcome to boredom. I hope it becomes your pathway to figuring out how never to be bored when you grow up. Boringness, in measured doses, will help your imagination.

That’s what i’m telling myself today. It’s over 100 degrees and I refuse to move from this bed until evening.

P.S. It is good for your independence and self esteem to get your own juice from the cupboard instead of trying to make me get up.

Love,

Your boring mom

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