Boredom
Boredom according to Mr. Webster:
: the state of being weary and restless through lack of interest
In our home, we weren't allowed to utter the word, bored. The instant it left our lips we were put to task doing anything but being idle. I still, to this day, use the phrase, "Idle hands are the devils workshop." I have a habit of doing similar things with my own daughter, she is responsible for her own personal time, regardless of entertainment around her. When she was a small child she would go to Catholic Mass with both of her grandmothers. Her paternal grandmother would take her to the long service that had the rosary before Mass began. She'd always let My Girl take a toy or a little book so she'd sit still and be quiet. One of the first times my mother took her to their church with a somewhat simpler Mass, My Girl asked what she could bring to be still and quiet. My mother told her, "nothing, you're going to do that anyway." And she did. My sisters children shocked my current in laws when they came for our wedding over a year ago. They held open doors for grownups, spoke when spoken to, sat quietly during the service and the reception. Behavior so odd, so out of the norm, my m-i-l asked me afterward were they always like that...I told her yes, that's how we raise children where I'm from.
I've been back in school now for a full 2 weeks. I have two lecture classes that hold roughly 170+ students, and 3 studio classes that are very small....less than 20 people each. I understand there are going to be circumstances where a person may have to leave class early, work, emergency, family, etc. I understand there will be times when someone sneaks in just under the wire when class begins. I also understand that these classes can be boring, long-winded, epochs of time. BUT. You paid to be there. OK, lets get semantical about it: SOMEONE paid for you to be there for it. You wanted this cute little education. You actively chose to be involved in a University setting. I have a hard hard time with people who get up in the middle of a lecture or demonstration and walk out. I mean just walk right out the door like it's acceptable. This is my second round in college. I was there when I was 18-21, just like most of my peers that I'm in class with now. I got bored. I was tired (hungover) some mornings. So, I either didn't schedule early classes, or I discretely napped till it was over. (Is napping acceptable too? Not really but at least you're there) The difference is: I had the respect and self-discipline to sit my rear end in that chair until it was over. I understood then as I do now that the people in front of me have more knowledge and background in whatever the subject is than I have. I owe them at least that little bit of something.
What's happened? How far into the instant, self gratification hole have we gotten ourselves? Or rather have we gotten our children? I tend to lay the responsibility of a young persons misgivings on how they were raised. I know some behaviors are going to be picked up from outside sources but as a whole, it all starts at home. If a child is never taught to sit still they have no idea how to do it. Maybe I'm just too old school for whats going on today...I am a firm believer in boundaries and structure. When I'm thrown out of a routine, it bothers me to no end. My own child is developing similar habits. While I don't want her to pick up the anxiety end of it all, I want her to understand that the world is not forgiving. It is cruel and there will be times when she will have to exercise immense patience to get through it. Waiting around for something, especially something good, never killed anyone.
: the state of being weary and restless through lack of interest
In our home, we weren't allowed to utter the word, bored. The instant it left our lips we were put to task doing anything but being idle. I still, to this day, use the phrase, "Idle hands are the devils workshop." I have a habit of doing similar things with my own daughter, she is responsible for her own personal time, regardless of entertainment around her. When she was a small child she would go to Catholic Mass with both of her grandmothers. Her paternal grandmother would take her to the long service that had the rosary before Mass began. She'd always let My Girl take a toy or a little book so she'd sit still and be quiet. One of the first times my mother took her to their church with a somewhat simpler Mass, My Girl asked what she could bring to be still and quiet. My mother told her, "nothing, you're going to do that anyway." And she did. My sisters children shocked my current in laws when they came for our wedding over a year ago. They held open doors for grownups, spoke when spoken to, sat quietly during the service and the reception. Behavior so odd, so out of the norm, my m-i-l asked me afterward were they always like that...I told her yes, that's how we raise children where I'm from.
I've been back in school now for a full 2 weeks. I have two lecture classes that hold roughly 170+ students, and 3 studio classes that are very small....less than 20 people each. I understand there are going to be circumstances where a person may have to leave class early, work, emergency, family, etc. I understand there will be times when someone sneaks in just under the wire when class begins. I also understand that these classes can be boring, long-winded, epochs of time. BUT. You paid to be there. OK, lets get semantical about it: SOMEONE paid for you to be there for it. You wanted this cute little education. You actively chose to be involved in a University setting. I have a hard hard time with people who get up in the middle of a lecture or demonstration and walk out. I mean just walk right out the door like it's acceptable. This is my second round in college. I was there when I was 18-21, just like most of my peers that I'm in class with now. I got bored. I was tired (hungover) some mornings. So, I either didn't schedule early classes, or I discretely napped till it was over. (Is napping acceptable too? Not really but at least you're there) The difference is: I had the respect and self-discipline to sit my rear end in that chair until it was over. I understood then as I do now that the people in front of me have more knowledge and background in whatever the subject is than I have. I owe them at least that little bit of something.
What's happened? How far into the instant, self gratification hole have we gotten ourselves? Or rather have we gotten our children? I tend to lay the responsibility of a young persons misgivings on how they were raised. I know some behaviors are going to be picked up from outside sources but as a whole, it all starts at home. If a child is never taught to sit still they have no idea how to do it. Maybe I'm just too old school for whats going on today...I am a firm believer in boundaries and structure. When I'm thrown out of a routine, it bothers me to no end. My own child is developing similar habits. While I don't want her to pick up the anxiety end of it all, I want her to understand that the world is not forgiving. It is cruel and there will be times when she will have to exercise immense patience to get through it. Waiting around for something, especially something good, never killed anyone.
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