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Friday, August 22, 2008

Seriously, so bored!

Originally posted on August 9th

It's Saturday morning and my 10 yr. old was up at 7:30am writing sentences that aren't due until Wednesday--a sure sign that something was amiss. Finally, as we were getting ready to go to the pool, he came out with it.

"I'm BORED! I want to go 4-wheeling! I want to buy a 4-wheeler right now!"

I laughed, mostly because I can totally feel his pain. (Sadly, yes, I laugh at pain, but not because I find it funny).

"It's not funny! I want to go to town and buy a 4-wheeler!"

"We're going swimming. That will be fun," I said.

"Swimming? That's BORING! I want to go to town and buy a 4-wheeler."

So I gave him the let's-start-planning-and-saving speech and threw out a target date of a year.

"I have to save for a WHOLE yeeeeeear!?? I'm bored NOW! That's POO!!!"

(Okay, are my kids the only ones that use that superlative to express their discontent? My daughter has been using it on a regular basis. My hair looks like Poo! or This tastes like poo!)

Anyway, for some reason my son's boredom cheered me up a bit. See, I've been thinking lately about a documentary I recently watched called, Happy Valley. The film follows this woman through rehab? When she get cleans the camera pans in on her curled up in a rocking chair like a deflated ballon--no air, no angst--and asks her how she's feeling? "I feel just like everybody else . . . " she replies. Poignant pause ". . . boring." And that honesty hangs in the air for another poingant pause before she asks, "Is this how you feel everyday?"

Yes! That's how I feel everyday!

Question: Do you think mid-life crisis and mid-life boredom are like a rose by any other name would smell the same? (Do you think it would help if I went out and got myself a Mountain Dew addiction or something? ;)

Maybe I'm just experiencing mid-week boredom or mid-morning boredom.

OR, maybe my son and I are coming down from PVB (Post Vacation Boredom) or PSFFRB (Post Super Fun Family Reunion Boredom)

At any rate, it's not like I'm sitting around playing solitaire and doing Sadoku puzzles all day, (although I did play one game of solitaire yesterday--for the challenge, of course, but I actually won (totally true story) so even that was a bit dull). I've got far too much to do, it's just that . . . (between me and you) . . . YAWN . . . I'm bored silly doing it.

Now THAT's poo!

1 comment:

Funny Farmer said...

The "Happy Valley" reference is so sad. Mid-life boredom - that sounds like me! My husband barely even recognizes me anymore, I'm trying so many new things. He acts like he's scared, but secretly I think he likes the new me. :wink:

As for the "poo" references: Maybe you should try serving poo for dinner sometime so that when the kids say "this tastes like poo!" they'll actually know what they're talking about.

Hyperbole annoys me... Unless I'm the one expressing it. Ahem.