School has started or is starting and either way you’re bound to hear at some point, “What should I do, I’m bored!” If the word “bored” is still allowed in your household, there are both ways to avoid its rearing and ways to thwart its maddening, incredulous existence.

If you’re like most parents, you know you’re doing well if you can come up with two activities a day to engage your children and stave off the dreaded: “I’m bored.” Once uttered from you little cherub’s mouth, you could opt for the return punt of: “Only boring people are bored” or the ever-popular, “Well, Hi Bored, I’m Lou!” But the truth is, though the phrase is grating, hearing it is a sign of communication and any time your child comes to you for advice, to share, or just to talk, do consider it a privilege and a sign of a parenting job well done.

With that in mind, you might start looking forward to an “I’m bored” interaction just for the sheer pleasure of the opportunity it presents. Instead of flipping on the TV or pacifying with a flick, take the challenge your child offers as a way to be a “Yes” parent.

If the boring boredom line, “I’m bored” visits your house, be prepared with the following arsenal of some serious boredom busters:

·         make an obstacle course in the backyard

·         turn your room into a fort with sheets

·         set the tent up and tent out in the yard tonight

·         write a letter to yourself that you’ll open in 10 years

·         read

·         write a poem about how bored you really are

·         rearrange your bedroom

·         wash the car

·         wash the dog

·         wash the carpet (after the wet dog runs in)

·         plan dinner, write a menu, create place cards and jot down the grocery list

·         set up a backyard miniature golf course

·         blow bubbles

·         create invitations and plans for an ice cream social with friends at your house

·         make cookies (especially no-bake cookies to avoid turning on the oven)

·         choose and prep a spot in the garden to plant a tree or perennial of your choosing

·         clean your room (ahem!)

·         plan a neighborhood Olympics

·         write down questions you have about anything on slips of paper and start a discussion box

·         weed the flowers

·         organize (a junk drawer, a closet, a toolbox, a bookshelf)

·         make a paper chain to count down to a trip, a treat, a reward

·         start collecting things for a garage sale

·         think of a way to help an elderly neighbor (yard work, bake cookies, write a note, etc.)

A child claiming to be bored while pouting in a room filled with toys beyond what some children could dream of, can be a hard pill to swallow. If it doesn’t make you reconsider the next toy purchase, let it be the gift it can be of an opportunity to connect with your kids. As busy, scheduled parents it is likely you wish your biggest complaint of the day was that of being bored.

So, what would you want to do if you were a kid today? It likely isn’t clean or organize—but those ideas are always worth a shot, so don’t leave them out for fear of rejection. When you hear, “I’m bored” consider it your easy challenge of the day and defeat boredom the fun, yes way.