When my son was three, I was terrified when he told me he was bored. I was sure I was a failure. Then I read a book, I think it was A Nation of Wimps, it revolutionized the way I viewed motherhood. (I know I read A Nation of Wimps in that time period but I'm not sure if it was a different book, that told me it was good for kids to get bored, so they could fix the situation.) My child needs to be bored, he needs to figure out what to do after he is bored.
Today was a prime example. We were doing an activity, and it was coming to an end. They were pretty much done, and their attention spans were up.
Nan started crying that we weren't going to anyone's house today.
J told me he is bored with the summer, and done with "our school" (I'm not sure where that phrase came from). I told him he had 10 weeks left.
Five minutes later, they were in an elaborate world of whatever they do together, that involves moving all their favorite toys, through the whole house, and a ship made of pillows.
Sure normally it take longer than 5 minutes of boredom to come up with a game but the point is, I think they should be bored, so it doesn't always take forever to become un-bored. I also have no problem telling my children they are not allowed to follow me when I leave the room because they are crying that they are bored.
Whenever we told our parents we were bored when we were little they would say, "Great! Why don't you clean the bathroom, or sweep the floor, or mow the lawn, or..." It was only seconds before we found something else to do and forgot about our boredom. :)
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