Bug and I survived a very rainy first (half) week of summer vacation with only one I’m-overwhelmingly-bored meltdown. Like Milli Vanilli(‘s stunt doubles), I blame it on the rain.
Whew. Only seventy-eight more days to go. But who’s counting?
For the record, I love having Bug home with me. I love snuggling with him in the mornings without having to rush to get ready for school. I love reading quietly with him while Bean naps. I love having a conversation during lunchtime that doesn’t consist of thirteen games of Peek-a-Boo and using repetition using repetition using repetition to teach the baby sign language.
But he’s six-and-three-fourths years old of 115% boy. Which, for the summer, means:
1. He gets bored roughly 11 seconds after finishing a book or activity, which means I have approximately 7 seconds to come up with something new for him to do to avoid DISASTER.
2. He owns somewhere upwards of 9,294 pieces of Legos, which is manageable when he only had about 2 hours a day to play with them. Not so much now that he has 12 hours a day.
3. Being six-and-three-fourths (more accurately, six-and-five-sixths, but that just doesn’t roll off the tongue), Bug has long passed needing a nap. Bean, on the other hand, still hasn’t gotten used to sleeping through Transformer duels happening next door.
4. I actually have to be responsible about what I eat for lunch. No more Cookie Dough Bites and Sunkist in the middle of the day.
5. “Me” time has been drastically reduced from the couple hours a day Bean naps to -3.25 hours a day. How is that even possible? Casualties of this tragedy include: Facebook, blogging, DVR’ed episodes of Glee and Conan, all the art and home projects I thought about doing during all that “Me” time, showering, peace, quiet, and Cheddar ‘n Sour Cream Ruffles.
So in order to come out on the other end of this summer vacation without any bald patches on my head, I have spent a significant amount of time researching Things to Do around our area, have mapped out a weekly plan so we don’t waste precious golden time wondering what we can do today, and have created a short list of Field Trips for this summer, which are really just cheap places to go with a new, snazzier name so it sounds exciting.
Let’s go to the Museum! (Um. Okay.)
Let’s go on a Field Trip! To the Museum! (WHAT!)
See?
I hope my sanity doesn’t take a Field Trip. Ba-dump-ch!
Meet the Buttrams 
78 Days? I think I get 53. Not that I’m complaining.
Okay, maybe.
I can see how longer summers would rock for teachers. Another reason why teachers are generally better people than me.
I remember those days. One of my favorite answers to the bored thing, was I would offer to suggest chores if my children couldn’t think of anything productive to do…
Nice. Mind if I steal that line? 😉
Please be my guest. It works to your benefit every time. Either the kids magically come up with some great ideas that keep them busy for hours, or they actually help with extra chores. Although I must admit the latter only happened a couple of times.
You should write a post just about the Cheddar ‘n Sour Cream Ruffles.
Oh, how I miss summer vacation.
My kid has wondered why adults don’t get summer vacation. And why I don’t share my Ruffles.
when we were little our mom found all kinds of free things to do in Chatt-Town during the summer. We had free movie days at local theaters, free zoo trips and of course participated in the library’s summer reading program. Just some ideas… Good luck with the all boy, having brothers I understand what summers look like with them 🙂
Oh, yes, we are already killing the summer reading log.
Thanks, I’ll need the luck. 😉
I’m with Mark on the Cheddar-n-Sour Cream Ruffles. They could carry their own post. I have no will power, so the only thing that keeps me from scarfing such things down is not having them in the house at all. Now I am sad about that.
And, no, my mouth isn’t watering as I write this. Not one bit.
No kidding, my kid and I can digest a bag of those in. one. sitting.
Legos = best toy of all time! I still have crates full of them stashed away in my parents’ basement – you just never know when you’ll need ’em! 🙂
Yeah, I totally dig Legos. They really are one of the best toys ever. Not the best thing to step on in the middle of the night ever, though. Fuzzy slippers get that award.
Jess:
I’m with journeytoephiphany: It only takes once. If your child says, “I’m bored, you say (*all excited, in the most madly excited voice you can muster*): “You ARE! Because I have THE BEST thing for you to do, and I was just WAITING for you to say you wanted to do something new. (Take your bored child gently by the hand and guide him to the bathroom.)
The brush needs to be there already or else he will try to escape.
Have your child stand before the toilet and hand him the brush.
“Okay!” (*You must gush here. Very important to ooze gush.*) Start swirling. Now at first, your child might like this activity, especially after you add the cleaning supplies and let him swish them around – but after a short while it does get tedious. He will want to stop.
“What?” (*Look profoundly confused. Furrow your brow briefly. We don’t want to leave wrinkles.*) “But you said you were bored…”
Don’t forget to remind him that you have X more toilets to clean if you hear him say he is bored ever again. Ever.
Monkey has never said these words since he was 4 years old.
On a down note, I am the Chief Cleaner in Residence of all Things Porcelain.
My goodness, your version was so much more entertaining. Side note – My kids actually liked to clean the toilet for years. It has finally worn off…
I agree, Renée brings out the big guns. I was just gonna say, “You could always go clean your room,” or something equally less traumatic.
Am I now waiting for those words to slip out of Bug’s mouth?
Maybe…
I mean more entertaining than MY version…It’s funny because the script Renee used is very similar to the one I’ve used…
I also love your stage directions. No wrinkles indeed! (Laugh lines okay, though, right?)
Ah, summer! I love the call it a field trip idea … definitely going to be using that. And I’m with you — so behind on my favorite blogs!
Renee is possibly a genius. I’m now actually looking forward to the first “I’m bored” of the summer.
Amy