When 11 Year Old Boys are Bored

McKay has the unique opportunity of being an only child this week while his sisters are off at Girls Camp.  There are good things and bad things about that.  He enjoys having the complete and undivided attention of both of his parents.  He enjoys picking all of the places we go to eat and most of the activities we do.  But there are lots of hours in his days this week when he has been very bored, and his hearty sighs can be heard throughout the house.  "Oh, what can I do now?" and "When will the girls be home?" and my favorite, "It's SO quiet in the house without them."  

This morning during an early spell of boredom he decided to unload the dishwasher and reorganize my tupperware cabinet.  Hooray for me!  

A few hours later when I was up to my ears in packaging 25 lbs of raw chicken, he helped me wrap, tape and toss into the freezer, all 21 little packages.  Again...hooray for me!  And without him, we would have used plain old white tape instead of the more colorful and bold blue that he picked.  He's right.  It does pep up the freezer a little.  

This afternoon, he thought of a plan for a make-ahead breakfast to save me time tomorrow morning.  "Can I use some tin foil?"  "And can I have some bread?"  "And I'm going to need the step ladder."  

Hmmm...???

That's a piece of "sun toast" suspended from the roof of my patio.  It's hanging so that the bugs can't get to it.  Pretty clever, huh?  I'll let you know how tastes after we eat it tomorrow morning.  He may have revolutionized the toast world.  Can you believe the Robotics Club turned down this creative genius?  Yeah...me neither.  

Finally, at 3:30 when he could stand it no longer and there was nothing left in the house that needed his attention, I offered to take him to the pool with a friend.

Oh, how I love this clever, busy, thoughtful 11-year-old who lives in my house!  And oh, how grateful I am for an opportunity to have him all to ourselves this week.