Bored?

[Snowfan]

I overheard a couple of kids talking. They said they were bored. It got me to thinking. I'll bet most of you will have a hard time trying to remember, but, when was the last time you were honestly, truly bored? No animals to tend to, nothing that needs your attention or fixing or mending or repairing and no place to go. The kind of day when you never let a cup of coffee get cold. I'll admit to taking a few days where I didn't get a lot accomplished by choice, but I felt guilty and restless the whole time.

[bluemoonluck]

I think the last time I was bored, I was trapped on an airplane and ran out of reading material. That was 5-6 years ago I think.

My kids never utter the word "bored". In my house, when I hear the word "bored" it means that they have nothing to do and therefore want to do chores

[unregistered41671]

I don't get bored as an adult, but when I was young, if I mentioned the word "bored", my ole Daddy made sure I had something to do.

[Harry Chickpea]

"Bored" for a kid is a natural part of growing up. "Bored" doesn't always mean "There is nothing to do <whine>" even if that is the way the kid states it. It means that there isn't mental and physical stimulation in areas where the body is saying it needs more. Just giving a kid work masks that (which can be good sometimes). Exploration into new things will broaden horizons. Then again, sometimes a swift kick is what is needed to boost a kid out of self-pity.

[wr]

Originally Posted by Snowfan

I overheard a couple of kids talking. They said they were bored. It got me to thinking. I'll bet most of you will have a hard time trying to remember, but, when was the last time you were honestly, truly bored? No animals to tend to, nothing that needs your attention or fixing or mending or repairing and no place to go. The kind of day when you never let a cup of coffee get cold. I'll admit to taking a few days where I didn't get a lot accomplished by choice, but I felt guilty and restless the whole time.

My kids grew up on a ranch and we didn't work them from sunup to sunset and even if we did, there are a lot of very short days in the winter.

They too were bored once in a while too and I don't think it's a reflection of their ability to find something to do or my parenting skills. It's just pretty normal for kids but how they resolve that boredom is a true reflection of parenting.

[Ann-NWIowa]

The summer between my freshman and sophmore years we moved to a new town that did not have a library. I read thru my mother's books including Gone With The Wind, several Dickens and Pearl Buck books in short order and then crashed into boredom and depression. It was horrible. No friends and no books = the end of the world for teenaged me. Obviously, I survived but I hated that town/school/situation for the next 3 years until I could leave. I could not believe a town that size did not have a library.

[FarmTechnician]

I'm always bored because I'm always looking for something to do! Lol.

[Melissa]

I think I was 15 the last time I was bored!

[Wendy]

I am never bored because there is always a quilt to work on.

[Bret]

Bored means looking for leadership and direction. When I said that as a teen I got chores. I only said it twice. I learned that I can learn.

[jwal10]

Originally Posted by Snowfan

....when was the last time you were honestly, truly bored?....The kind of day when you never let a cup of coffee get cold.

I can let myself get bored....IF I want to, now. And enjoy it. I had worked from the time I was 12 until I had ankle surgery Nov. 2013. Fully retired, learning to let go, few things "have to" be done now. DS milks the goats. I truly can sleep in....or whatever. Every person should experience it. I really can put off until tomorrow, anything I don't want to do today. Every day is on MY schedule. I don't get bored at all, I have a new outlook on life. I don't sit around, I think I get more done, than ever but I never feel rushed or pushed. I can truly relax. Sweetie LUVS the new ME, too....James

[Skandi]

Actually I am bored a lot of the time.. part of the reason I am on here! We only just got our place and since it's the middle of winter stormy with high winds not much one can do outside. Inside will have to wait for more money.. so yeah boredom is really easy to fall into. there's only so long you can knit for before your fingers shout NO MORE. and the speed I read makes reading not a cure (I can easily manage two full sized novels in a day)

So today I cut down a load of scrub, make about 15ft of woven fence, split the last of the free wood, did some kindling. cooked dinner (from scratch) and now am sitting about from about 4pm till now 9pm BORED (It gets dark at 4) Probably doesn't help that I loath TV mindless drivel 99% of it. We don't even have one!

[where I want to]

I am fairly frequently bored. It's the phase that happens between being a physical wreck so I sat down to rest until the frustration of boredom overcomes my internal whine about not wanting to do that which needs doing but I don't like doing.
I always have been a by fits and starts kind of worker. Working hard then finding no motivation, each in turn.

[Paumon]

Ever heard the expression "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"? It's just as true today as it ever was. Boredom is a result of lack of mental stimulation, not necessarily a result of lack of things to do. A person can try to relieve their boredom by filling all their time with work but then all they're doing is drudgery which is still the same old same old and is still boring drudgery, it's not mentally stimulating.

When kids say they're bored it's because they aren't mentally stimulated and very often they're at an age where they don't yet have the experience or imagination to get creative and invent things to do that stimulate the mind. Or else they have just enough imagination which leads them into trouble due to lack of parental direction. That's when it's the parent's responsibility to direct the kids in interesting new things for the kids to become involved in. Putting them to work at extra chores and drudgery isn't alway the answer. If parent's only answer to relieving their kids boredom is to always put them to work all that means is the parents are dull, boring people themselves who have no imagination or are either too lazy or too work-ridden to take some time to participate in stimulating activities with their children.

[Yvonne's hubby]

I get bored a lot these days.... nothing much I can do and all day to do it in.

[emdeengee]

I am bored all the time - that is if you go by the second part of the definition of the word bored. I am never unoccupied so that part of boredom does not apply to me.

bored1
bôrd/
adjective
feeling weary because one is unoccupied or lacks interest in one's current activity.

I often have a complete lack of interest in things that I am doing - sorry but cleaning the bathroom or shoveling manure are not interesting activities - but I still do them. The trick is to occupy your mind with something that is interesting while you are doing the dull stuff.

The last time I remember being world weary bored was as a child and teenager but I think that is because when you are a child or a teen you do not have control over your life and time does seem to drag when you are very anxious for new adventures and everything about your life to advance.

[Danaus29]

The last time I was bored I was confined to the couch with a broken foot. I spent a lot of time playing Plants vs Zombies. It was the only gardening I did that year.

[Tricky Grama]

Like Melissa, I was last bored about age 15.
Teens are naturally a little sciociopathic (?) and sometimes its cool to be bored.

[Callieslamb]

I get bored often. Bored isn't lacking in things to do...it's lackling in things to do that I want to do. Winter is harder for me. When i find myself wandering aimlessly, I know it's time to put my foot down and get busy with some R&R.

[Shrek]

Whenever I find my day running smoothly I find myself bored just not terminally bored. Days running with a few kinks in chain drive or a sputter in the speed controller tend to be of more interest to me.