Whittling Away Boredom

I often fall for this.

Especially during the summer.

Especially when it’s raining.

Especially on my work days when the kids are home and I’m trying to focus.

It can sometimes feel like there’s no other option.

But that’s a lie from the screen time swindlers, the electronic entertainers, the boob tube tricksters. 

Don’t fall for it. 

Because, with a little bit of time and encouragement up front, you can end up with a hand-whittled bud vase on your windowsill and basswood shavings on your deck.

You get to meet a sketched monster named Zoobart and learn a list of new jokes and riddles.

You get to step over board game pieces and discover completed sections of the family jigsaw puzzle.

You get to tour an indoor blanket fort or a clubhouse in the woods.

You get to hear the sounds of driveway basketball beats and trampoline laughter. 

You get to chauffeur to the library because more books are needed.

You get to taste-test baked goods and hang watercolor masterpieces.

Yep, in our house, there is screen time. But there is also I’m-board-time.

I believe that some of life’s best stuff is boredom-produced.

So, knives out, y’all. Together, we can whittle away the plugged-in propaganda.

Because every home should have beautiful displays of boredom on the windowsill.

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