On Boredom
In this era of ubiquitous handheld devices it is feared that we as a species, and especially the youngest generation, is losing the ability to be bored. Boredom, as a catchall phrase for doing nothing, for unplugging, for making your own fun. One of the benefits and challenges of extended travel like we are doing is learning to be "bored" or more accurately, to learn, when it feels like you are bored, how to enjoy that feeling, or at a minimum how to figure out what else you can do that is more enjoyable. To make this an advanced level course just take a family of five, go to a hot, humid tropical island, stay in a small airBnB with no AC, and spotty internet connection. Challenge on.
So the recent posts about life on Moorea have been pretty idyllic, and it is, for the most part. But there have been some moments when the bickering among the three kids has been epic. Hunger, heat, poor sleep, close quarters, togetherness 24-7... Siblings have a brilliant ability to push each other's buttons. Mine can be more fierce to each other than they ever would be to others. For the most part, outside in the world, they are kind, patient and thoughtful humans. In a small hot cabin in French Polynesia, they were less so.... So we had conversations about kindness, about patience and compassion. We had conversations about the importance of supporting each other and we had conversations about generating goodness. Sometimes the conversations ended in more bickering, sometimes in silence, but a week from what I think of our bottom I think we are all learning to be more kind and more patient with each other, and that would be a really awesome souvenir to bring home.
As for the boredom, what we have realized is that boredom breeds bickering. So how to help not only handle boredom but to be kind when bored is challenge 2.0. There has been lots of reading, lots of card games, some well timed lego for the 6 year old (thank you Santa) , watching the resident chickens scratch their way around the yard (there are always chickens), and when all else fails, just go do something in the water. So there you have it. We are on a tropical paradise. We are having a wonderful time and we are having lots of opportunities to learn how to be bored and how to be kind with each other, especially while bored. .... In true life form, I have just had to get up and intervene in some bickering and this post is now a day older. So any fleeting musings or words of wisdom have dissipated into the humid air and all I am going to leave you (and myself with) for today are these faces that I love even when they are fraying my patience.
So the recent posts about life on Moorea have been pretty idyllic, and it is, for the most part. But there have been some moments when the bickering among the three kids has been epic. Hunger, heat, poor sleep, close quarters, togetherness 24-7... Siblings have a brilliant ability to push each other's buttons. Mine can be more fierce to each other than they ever would be to others. For the most part, outside in the world, they are kind, patient and thoughtful humans. In a small hot cabin in French Polynesia, they were less so.... So we had conversations about kindness, about patience and compassion. We had conversations about the importance of supporting each other and we had conversations about generating goodness. Sometimes the conversations ended in more bickering, sometimes in silence, but a week from what I think of our bottom I think we are all learning to be more kind and more patient with each other, and that would be a really awesome souvenir to bring home.
As for the boredom, what we have realized is that boredom breeds bickering. So how to help not only handle boredom but to be kind when bored is challenge 2.0. There has been lots of reading, lots of card games, some well timed lego for the 6 year old (thank you Santa) , watching the resident chickens scratch their way around the yard (there are always chickens), and when all else fails, just go do something in the water. So there you have it. We are on a tropical paradise. We are having a wonderful time and we are having lots of opportunities to learn how to be bored and how to be kind with each other, especially while bored. .... In true life form, I have just had to get up and intervene in some bickering and this post is now a day older. So any fleeting musings or words of wisdom have dissipated into the humid air and all I am going to leave you (and myself with) for today are these faces that I love even when they are fraying my patience.
Pic removed as keeps showing up on google search.
Having just left you all, and having experienced the tropical paradise, the humidity and heat, the down time, and yes, the boredom-bred sibling bickering you described, all I can say is, "Lethies, THIS. ONE. IS. GOOD."
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