Wednesday, June 15, 2005

breaking through boredom

My kids bicker.

Probably just the usual amount among brothers and sisters, not more than normal. But summertime is different. You'd think that it would be even worse than normal, without the outlet of school and friends and activities. And especially this summer when Emma's best friend has been on two vacations already. Max's day camp and our own vacation are still weeks away.

We were pretty busy last week with Vacation Bible School, but this week it's just us. We didn't even get dressed yesterday until Emma made our scrambled eggs at lunch. And the kids, though currently fighting while I write this, are actually..... playmates.

I think that summer forces siblings to rediscover each other. They move through a period of boredom and individual bickering to realize that they can play together. We've had some really complex make believe worlds lately. So elaborate, that even when I am ready to head out for some sort of adventure, often the kids are too engrossed to leave. I've even been turned down when I suggested Slurpees, because they'd rather keep the playmobil world going instead.

It breaks down when one gets mad, but sometimes they can pull each other out of the danger zone and get back to work.

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