Spring Break: When Desperation Breeds Creativity

Our sons have been out of school since Good Friday and won't be back until next Monday. That gives them 10 days in which to figure out what to do with their time. I am off work too and I get to watch what they come up with. I do let them watch lots of television and play on their Game Cube. To a point.

There are also lots of moments I say to turn off the electronics and figure out what to do.  It is pure privilege to live in a circumstance where my children are able to get "bored." In my first job out of journalism school, I covered a tiny town in Massachusetts and had to file a story a day, It wasn't easy but my editor would tell me: "Desperation breeds creativity." And so it does.

Right now, the 15 year old is at a friend's house with his electric bass, at a "Crap Music Session." They had one over winter break, too. A group of teens give themselves 12 hours and to write and produce a song. Most of it is garbage (hence it's a "Crap Music Session") but they have fun drinking energy drinks, eating all kinds of junk food and jamming. Our son also is spending his spring break doing some school work, writing a position paper for Model Congress, building his racing cycle and working three full days at the bike shop. He won't let me post a pic of the cycle because he thinks my camera phone is not up to par.

Our 12 year old refuses to wear shoes outside. You would think he'd know better since in years past I have pulled both a screw and a large stick from his feet. (On two separate occasions) Right now he just finished moving large rocks around in our front yard. His handiwork is above. I spied him using a ratty old skateboard to transfer the rocks from one part of the yard to another.

The first photo is of him turning all the keys upside down on an old keyboard. We have been reading Sherlock Holmes together. He also tried to train our dog to answer commands in French. He was doing that while I was trying to read to him. That was not a successful endeavor.