“There are no uninteresting things, only uninterested people.”
― G. K. Chesterton
I blame myself.
My children would prefer to stay at home in their jammies all day long and simply be home. I offer them countless opportunities to leave the boundaries of their domestic bliss and go out into the world and they ask, "Are you ASKING us if we WANT to go or are you TELLING us that we HAVE to go?" They love nothing better than puttering around from room to room making their own decisions about what to do (within the confines of the home, naturally) next.
When they were small, we would read a book that started with "When I was growing up, my parents were homebodies, so I stayed home." My ex-husband and I would laugh and laugh about that because he said HIS parents were homebodies (author's note to my former in-laws: HE SAID THAT!) so HE stayed home. We vowed that our children would NEVER have to stay at home. So they didn't.
We took them OUT.
When they were tiny, I had the luxury and the privilege of staying home with them (until I was home with them so long I wanted to cut my own throat...how stay-at-home moms do it every day is beyond the scope of my imagination). I planned daily Great Adventures and would whisk them off to parks, to museums, to stores, to wherever it is I wanted to go. Thing 1 was born in Hawaii and, since he was my only child at the time, we were off. When I look back on pictures of him in all these amazing locales, he doesn't have a single smile. He was apparently suffering tremendously with all this running around and simply didn't have the words to say it.
Thing 1 was always thrilled(?) to have Great Adventures |
So my children went. Everywhere. A few years ago, I decided to take them on a Great American Family Road Trip. We drove north. We went to New York City and conquered the Empire State Building. We explored Times Square where they DID enjoy the ginormous ToysRUs. But on our ferry ride back from the Statue of Liberty, Thing 1 looked at me and said, "Can we go home now?"
Little did he know we still had DAYS of Adventure left! They were thrilled when we spent a few days at my good friend Aimee's house. Always a fabulous hostess, Aimee was looking for fun things to do while we were there. I don't know that she believed me when I told her that the boys would MOST like to simply stay home.
We spent a day in Boston exploring the historic streets and sights and on our way home we stopped in at Hershey where we created our very own candy bars.
They have never mentioned that trip again. There are no nostalgic longings of "boy, I wish we could do THAT again." I doubt they even remember it.
We are preparing to embark on yet another Great Adventure: The Tilyard Family 5th Annual Spring Break Adventure. We spend every spring break going to a different amusement park. At this point, we've exhausted all the fairly local options in North Carolina and Virgina so we're headed to Six Flags Over Georgia. We had discussed it early in the year but I thought they'd forgotten since they hadn't mentioned it again. I was going to SURPRISE them (another thing they LOVE, not) with their season tickets in Easter baskets tomorrow morning. Nope, they knew all about it..they've discussed it with their dad. They just haven't mentioned it apparently because they are "so over" my Great Adventures. Thing 1 has already asked me how long we have to be gone. HAVE TO BE gone.
They are already uninterested in the world around them. They're going to end up being recluses akin to Thoreau or, God help me, Ted Kacynski. I'm such a cottonheaded ninnymuggins. I tried to instill in them a hunger for travel and knowledge and I've created two homebodies.
So do we have to stay home???
(NOTE: To "like" my brand-spankin'-new Facebook page for this blog so you can receive updates and valuable cash and prizes [KIDDING!], go to My Rockin' Chair on Facebook.)
Can I trade places with one of your Things? I love adventures :-) They may not appreciate it now, but when they are older they'll realize how truly lucky they are!
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