Quandry or Opportunity? "I'm bored. There's nothing to do!"

"I'm bored. There's nothing to do!" Let's take a closer look...Next time, when your precious one whines, try not to belittle him/her with "What do you mean you're bored", "Clean your room then", or "I can find million things for you to do! In short, these are all powerful quandaries that impede our intimate relationships with our children.

What were we thinking? Yes, we have been guilty of such disrespectful acts. Our family has bad days. We like to think we aren't alone in our predicament. Homeschooling is not an idyll of familial harmony. Specifics of others' bad days may be different than ours; we all have them. They are the days when siblings are quarrelsome and cranky instead of collaborative and compassionate...chores unfinished...more spills...more Yu-gi-Oh/Pokemon cards laying around and ruined...more laundries...more pine needles and cones on the yard...more DIY and non DIY repair...we wish no one drops by unexpected or uninvited because the house is not as tidy as we'd like...we wonder Are we trodding the road less traveled or just running amok!

In reading Sandra Dodd's insightful article Bored No More, we're reminded of the reasons why we engaged in attached/grace-based parenting, whole-life, law of attraction journey. Long time ago, we learned a new paradigm: we can enjoy being with our children. What a foreign concept to many! We, evolved to-date as Radical Unschoolers, believe we are born to CELEBRATE, HONOR, and SUPPORT one another. We prefer to use RESPECT, TRUST, FREEDOM, PEACE and JOY in our lives with our children instead of the cultural norm of control, guilt, coercion, rules, and punishment.

Next time one of our children has an episode of "I'm bored!", we'll be sure to welcome such learning opportunity.