Bored this summer?
A couple of years ago a mom came to talk with me about how to “reclaim” her kids’ summer. It seemed that everywhere she looked in her community, other families were planning fabulous activities for their kids. But deep inside, she felt that summer was a time to de-stress her kids, to allow them to structure their own time, to diddle, to plan, even to get bored.
It’s hard for me to imagine a more boring summer location than an east Los Angeles parts yard. Turns out that necessity IS the mother of invention but only if we allow space for necessity to arise! Researchers into creativity suggest that invention and generation of new ideas happen in “down” time. If that is correct, our kids’ generation is in trouble! But before we give up hope, check out Caine’s Arcade. Then maybe you’ll want to re-think your kid’s summer plans.
p.s. I double dog dare you to share this with your middle school sons! Let me know how it works out!
Kathleen Fischer 