It was a busy week for our household when Miss Nine reminded her parents of valuable lesson. She asked for a playdate, but her friends were busy. She asked us to set aside what we were doing, and we didn’t.
Predictably, she asked for the iPad and was told no.
So, she was bored.
I watched from the corner of my eye and wondered if I should provide an activity.
The next thing I knew, I could hear thumping. She was bouncing a basketball in the backyard. Five minutes later, the front door slammed.
I watched from inside as she went onto the footpath and set up a basketball obstacle course.
Back to work, I remained curious. When I looked again, she’d swapped the basketball for a soccer ball.
Then I checked again, and the ballgame had been abandoned, she was chasing a frisbee.
No longer able to resist, I grabbed our dog and joined her.
We were cheering for each other (loudly) when my husband, drawn by our laughter, joined us.
Before we realised it, our daughter had abandoned the frisbee and moved on to walk our dog (parents are embarrassing, right?).
A player short, my husband dropped the frisbee in exchange for kicking a soccer with me.
We laughed to the point of tears and, by the time we returned to the house, we were all smiles.
Fun fact: we’d only been outside playing for about 30 minutes. Hardly a disruption to our workday but a great release and energy boost.
The happy vibe continued, and it occurred to me that, as adults, we forget the importance of being bored.
Boredom sparks creative thinking and ingenuity.
Next time someone tells you they are bored, let them be. You might be impressed with how they resolve it.