The house, our life, is being irrevocably changed. I spent today taking down art. The Trip is now Real, in some way it wasn't.
The kids are asking some good kid questions, like: will we celebrate birthdays? Mostly they seem to see it as inevitable. I think that's in our favor.
Anyway, continuing my previous post on kids boredom, two points:
1) Whether home or away, is boredom my problem or theirs? I'm leaning toward theirs.
2) I'm not feeling my earlier fears around boredom during travel because I used a mythical baseline of daily delight at home, that doesn't actually exist in my kids reality.
I'll explain:
I had one small relief point in the worry about kids and boredom in hotel rooms: I imagined staying here. My kids say no to all organized summer camps and classes. They just want to stay home, but then complain about being bored. I don't feel inspired at home to be Super Project Fun Papa all the time, even though I have more resources here (tools, stores, workspace), and they shoot down any go-out idea that isn't video games. (As a video game designer, I feel a certain irony here :) . I'm not complaining, just reporting on the realization that boredom in unscheduled time is normal.
Also: I am not sure boredom is a real problem for parents, except that I don't like to hear them complain. I spent a lot of time unscheduled, and feeling bored as a kid. I don't know if it was good for me or not. I am sure it was related to having unscheduled time. My parents were too busy (ie not prioritizing) to listen to my complaints of boredom. I don't think "kids these days have it too easy", but I'm unsure what to think . To be continued.