Finally, the long-awaited summer season is upon us. It’s a time for rest, relaxation and throwing out of schedules! Suddenly, our bliss is interrupted with the words we all dread to hear. “I’m bored Mom.” “Mom, there’s nothing to do.” “Mom what should I do?”
Unless we want to put our children in front of electronics all day long, we have to come up with some creative ideas to keep our children occupied. I do know some moms who will quickly offer their children either a quickly chosen chore or one chosen from a jar of many. There are some moms who will allow their children to wander aimlessly until they themselves find something to do.
Another solution is found at your library in the form of summer reading. When I was younger, this was an event I looked forward to. The time and ability to spend hours and hours absorbed in some wonderful tale in a far-off land. This is one thing I anticipated about summer. I can clearly remember going to the library with my best friend and taking our sweet time picking out books. These treasures were then unfurled as we sat under her willow tree sipping lemonade and enjoying the breeze.
Much of this reading inevitably lead to following rabbit trails. What’s a rabbit trail you ask? Well, it’s a nugget or piece of information you run across that makes you want to find out more about that subject. For us, it meant an agonizing wait until our next library trip to speak with the librarian who would help us get more information. While another trip back to the library is never a bad thing, we do have the wonderful world of the internet at our finger tips! With parental oversight, our children can take short explorations down those wonderful rabbit trails.
What will it lead to? A curiosity in time period clothing leads to learning more about the countries and rulers during that time in history. A curiosity in horses leads to equestrian sports and veterinary care. A curiosity in an exotic fruit leads to learning about a new region and cooking up foreign fare. The list of possible rabbit trails is endless. What a wonderful way to “get lost” and learn! And what a wonderfully free time to do it during the summertime.
