Here’s another Ultimate Truth to add to the list:
The more kids have to do, the more quickly they get bored.
My children have an alphabet soup at their fingertips of TV’s, PC’s and DVD’S, of DVR’s and VCR’s, of Playstation and Game Boy.
They’re all capable of taking my children almost anywhere in the world to explore almost any subject that filters will allow.
Still, as a generation, our children have the cumulative attention span of a Labrador puppy.
“I’m sooooo BOOORRED!!
“Dad, this is boring.”
“BOOORRRIINNGG!!!”
Hey, back in the day (Oh, please not another back-in-the-day story) all we had was a bat, a ball, a glove and a backstop.
If you didn’t have enough kids show up you pitched to second base and hit into the fence.
If you had a few more bodies you left one field empty and made it an out to hit it there.
Sometimes one guy had to pitch to both sides.
The point is, we made do with what we had, and our parents had to practically drag us off the field to the dinner table.
Don’t get me wrong.
I love my kids.
I love doing things with them.
But every time we turn around we seem to be tripping over them lately.
There is a fine line between being a Dad and being someone’s Entertainment Director.
“Why don’t you go out and play?”
“No one’s out.”
“Why don’t you ride your bike?”
“Don’t want to.”
“Why don’t you watch TV, read a book, play on the computer, take a walk, pet the dog, rearrange the Barbie Bin, call a friend, do a jigsaw puzzle, watch a movie, write to Grandma, beat the Playstation bad guys, play some cards?”
“No, there’s nothing to do. I’m so bored.”
It’s a real shame that they don’t have anything to do.