UPDATE - 7/27/10 - HELP - our DD(10) is bored on weekends, I work, etc.

[N&B'smom]

Not sure what your DH has in his 'hobby room' but perhaps there is a way to incorporate your DD into his hobby. Or maybe she could start one of her own and they could both work on them in that room. Just a thought!!

See if your hubby has some ideas!!

 

[NHdisneylover]

I am so happy to hear that your DD and DH did a project together yesterday

Thanks for clarifying why volunteering was an issue I think the cards the PP suggested sounds fabulous. You can also look into these if she gets bored with cards.:
Chemo caps (the link has places to look for instructions on how to crochet too):
http://www.kidschemocaps.com/photos.htm
Preemie caps and baby blankets/clothes (link has patterns too):
http://www.carewear.org/
Crocheted angels for seriously ill patients:
http://familycrafts.about.com/gi/o....4&bt=0&bts=1&zu=http://www.angelsforhope.org/


I also think your idea to get a head start on Christmas cards and gifts is a great one

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I'm curious about those people who are posting that they were not "allowed" to be bored, or that they weren't always entertained in the old days. I wonder how much you were really alone and expected to entertain yourself.

I had what I think of as a pretty typical childhood for someone of my generation (I'm in my 40's). I went to school, and did some activities such as girl scouts and singing in the church choir, but I also had a lot of downtime. I certainly wasn't entertined by an adult for all or even most of that time, but I also was rarely alone. Instead I played outside, where there were always other kids; I babysat or did mother's helper type work in the neighborhood; I played with my siblings; I did things with/for my mother where we were doing things together -- helping her cook something or cut something out for her job as a nursery school teacher, or working along side her in the garden, folding laundry together etc . . . ; I practiced the piano with my mom in the background telling me occaisionally to try it again or that it sounded good; I walked up to the neighborhood pool where I swam on the swim team.

Now I'm the parent of an 11 year old boy. Since I'm a single mom, and I'm in online grad school, we're often in the situation that the OP described, where he's alone in the house with one adult who is occupied on the computer. Unless he has a friend over, he's alone in a way that I almost never was. When I look at the things that I did, most of them aren't options. He could play outside (and does go outside to walk the dog or play with the dog) but there are almost never kids his age there; 11 year old babysitters don't seem to be in demand; he doesn't have siblings to play with; the neighborhood pool doesn't allow kids under 12 unsupervised . . . So, he's truly alone in a way that I rarely was at that age, and for an extroverted kid that's hard.

OP, we haven't found a solution that's perfect. My son has a friend over when he can. Otherwise, he walks/plays with the dog a fair amount, helps around the house some, reads some, and plays computer games most of the time. He also does more camps, and outside of school activities than I did at that age, and we do a fair number of things as a family, such as going to the pool or movie etc . . .

 

[NHdisneylover]

I'm curious about those people who are posting that they were not "allowed" to be bored, or that they weren't always entertained in the old days. I wonder how much you were really alone and expected to entertain yourself.

.

I'll answer for me The bus dropped me off at 3:45 and my parents usually got home at 7:00ish (worked until 6 and had a long commute).
We lived 5 miles from our small town out in the woods. Nearest neighbors could be there in 5 minutes if there were an emergency (assuming someone was home) which there never was. They did not have kids and did not really like us anyway (we refused to sign a petition to allow them to put CB antennas on top of the ridge). So for a bit over 3 hours each week day during the school year I was alone. In the summer I got to go for 1-3 weeks to camp and about a month to Texas to stay with my grandparents. That usually left me with a month at home (plus two weeks at Christmas, etc). My dad would bring me a stack of books from the library mid week every week (it was open late enough on Wednesdays he could stop by on his way home). We had a TV which got 3 stations (plus sound only for PBS). I could call other people with our prefix--half the kids who attended school with me (and pretty much all my friends) had the "other" prefix and it was long distance so I could not call them. I had a Texas Instruments computer

It sounds pretty awful writing it all out. I don't recall being bored very often and if I was I had no one to complain to (my parents were working) and probably wouldn't have done so anyway (I would not have wanted them to feel bad--I was that kind of kid, which is not always a good thing)

I cooked, I read, I danced around all silly like, I played in the yard and built forts in the trees, played dolls, wrote stories, drew, day dreamed, did the laundry (bot did not fold--I never could do that to my mom's satisfaciton), cleaned the tubs, watched TV, did crafts, etc.

 

[ilovediznee]

See my update...

 

[allison443]

I have to share with you about my DD and DH last night because I think it is funny about my original post and then what happened last night. I was working and he picked her up. Her bunk bed ladder had broken so they went to Home Depot together, got the items to fix it and fixed it together in the dining room last night!

I just wanted to mention that Home Depot has parent-child workshops on the weekends at their stores. You would have to check your local store for their schedule. Maybe your dd and dh would enjoy that. It is usually something like make a simple birdhouse together, etc.

 

[ilovediznee]

Thanks! Good idea! This weekend she has a b'day party from 11:30 - 1:30 and DH is taking her, but I'll check the schedule at HD as well.

Di