I'M BORED

Okay.  There were two words in my kid-dom that you never uttered for fear of a stern lecture and hours of chores.

I’m bored.

That little phrase, uttered quickly and usually with deep regret afterwards was met with an arched eyebrow by Dad and a gritty smile by Mom. “Really?  You’re bored.  Let’s just see if we can fix that!”

Well.  Out would come a list of chores that indentured servants would weep over.  Clean the garage.  Polish the silver.  Remove the china from the hutch and wash it.  By hand.  (Even if you thought you could cheat and put some pieces in the dishwasher, there was just one problem – no dishwasher.)  Fluff pillows.  Shell peas.  Beat rugs.  Organize the linen closets.  Clean under beds.  And my mom’s all time favorite, wash the walls and ceilings.  With Spic-n-Span!  The smell of that particular cleanser makes my arm cramp to this day.

Believe it or not, even Rob and I agree on this!  Me: Did you ever tell your parents “I’m bored”?  Rob:  No.  Me:  Why?  Rob:  Cuz they madja work.  Swing camera to teenager who rolls his eyes and continues channel surfing.

And get this – the work list wasn’t optional.  No take backs.  Not mere suggestions, either.  You’re bored?  You worked.  I wonder how the ‘yea, right Mom’ look my teenaged son gave me today would have played for my Dad when I gave teenager a work list in response to his ‘I’m bored’. 

The thing of it is that by today’s standard, we had every right to be bored!  Our homes growing up were more like Fantasy Farm and less like the Disney Worlds of today.  Case in point:

• Books came from the Library that was too far to walk or ride my bike to. No Amazon, no Kindle.  You can be surprised at how many times you can read a Nancy Drew book.
• We had one TV, there were 3 channels, 2 antennas, no remote, and it was stationed in the Living Room, where I ranked in some position behind (in order) Dad, Mom, and Older siblings.  Channel surfing was when you got up, glided over to the TV and turned the dial.
• There were no DVDs or VCRs – movies were a once a year treat at a Drive-In theater that I wore my jammies to and played on the playground during half the movie and slept through the rest.  I was in high school before I remember seeing a movie in its entirety – “Star Wars”.  And remember this – The Wizard of Oz played once a year on TV.  And I bet you can remember when you parents first bought a color TV – no more ‘imagining’ the yellow brick road. 
• There was no computer, no video games.  I now believe our middle aged love for weekend trips to Las Vegas is based on the fact that all our childhood games required cards or dice and a dealer.
• We had one phone (that was a rotary dial party line for most of my childhood) and it was in the kitchen.  Text was notes you passed in study hall. If I wanted to talk with friends I had two choices - I wedged myself in a corner of the kitchen and tried to have the most whispered conversation that the lines could carry.  Otherwise I walked or rode my bike (that green 3 speed masterpiece that I earned by selling Christmas Cards door to door) or waited for school.

And yet, for the most part, we were never bored.  We seemed to make a whole lot of something out of nothing.  Rob swears he never even got Christmas gifts – a delusion shot down by looking at his parent’s old home movies.  He now contends that all those presents broke quickly, so he and his siblings had to play with sticks and rocks and cans.  We all spent a lot of time outside, who cares if the ‘weather was permitting’. 

Or maybe I’m just romanticizing; our house WAS pretty clean…At least now when I'm bored I can't make myself do anything!  Vegas anybody?