Boredom

I don't remember the last time I could say I was bored. It surely wasn't in the last four years. Even before that, though I barely remember what life before kids was like, I am pretty sure I didn't get bored. There was always something to cook, a cross stitch to work on, gardening to do, a computer game to play, a book to read, a room to paint... The list goes one. I am routinely surprised when I hear someone say they get bored.

That said, I actually did recently have my first (in a very long time) brush with boredom.

Try spending two days in the hospital with a preschooler. Boredom was setting in.

By the second day I had a routine:

Movie of his choice (which turned out to be either the full length Scooby Doo cartoon or the Buzz Lightyear of Star Command cartoon VHS cassettes we found in the pediatric ward movie closet. Lovely. Cannot.stand.Scooby.Doo. Never thought I would find a day when I would be pushing for the Buzz cartoon.) During the movies I read magazines and let my brain melt for an hour and a half.

After the movie was over we would walk to the fish tank down the hall remembering each time how far he could walk without setting off the "escaped child" warning system linked to his house arrest ankle bracelet. It only happened once. I would also take this time to bug the nurses with questions like, "when will we see the doctor", "can you check his IV" and "does he really need the fluids?" They were happy to see us leave. Can't say I wasn't happy to be rid of them either.

We would go back to the room, stopping on the way by the toy room to see if anything had changed in there. Nope, still lots of toys without batteries.

Back to the room where mommy would invent a game to play. We perfected "hide the exam glove" (whereby Leif would announce where he was going to hide it, then he would hide it, and tell me where he hid it). Then giggle like crazy when I would go looking for it. My turn was harder since I refused to tell him where I put it. (And I think it is still left in the freezer section of the little fridge in the room now that I think about it.)

Coloring with crayons, Color Wonder markers or playing with Leapster. Yes, some of the Alaska trip surprises made early debuts. Good thing too... I discovered that the color wonder sets I bought had inappropriate colors for the topics. Seriously - Toy Story has orange, blue, purple and brown. How about green for Buzz and the chillies? Does T-Rex really get no respect at all? (Must buy a set of Color Wonder markers before the trip.)

A quick game of toss the stuffed snake (4" long snake I found in the gift shop) at the butterfly balloon. (Sorry Cate... it was a daunting target.) Once his arm started to get powerful and aim started to dwindle out of excitement, it was time for redirection. (I did retrieve the snake off the top of the TV before we left.)

Time to order some food. Thank you cafeteria delivery of many snacks, juices, chocolate milk and we learned you can even get mac and cheese for breakfast.

Call grandma. Tell her she is a "Sullivan" - still no idea why he calls people "little Sullivan".

Sit back down for another movie after food arrives and start the cycle over again.

Day two? I had read four magazines and I don't even want to think about how many times I heard "Scoooooby Doooo!" or "to infinity and beyond!"

Though I suppose I shouldn't *really* be complaining though. I wasn't the one who got to spend the night in the hospital room with Leif. AB got that sentence. And he got a cot with every three hour interruptions to his sleep when the nurses came in. Had I been the one in that position I have to admit I would have probably crawled in bed with Leif - that cot was way uncomfortable.

I guess it was good practice for confining him on the trip to Alaska in a mere 6 days.