| Author | |
Sarah
Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 17 2005
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1624
|
| Posted: Feb 27 2009 at 3:29pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
. . . Spells mischief!
Any thoughts on what can be planned for preteen boys who are reluctant to do arts and crafts?
Afternoon boredom seems to be an issue right now. Dad cannot help until 7 pm or so.
Any thoughts or ideas?
__________________
Six boys ages 16, 14, 11, 7, 5, 2 and one girl age 9
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
hylabrook1
Forum Moderator
Joined: July 09 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5980
|
| Posted: Feb 27 2009 at 4:09pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Yardwork? Barnwork? At this time of year, maybe starting seeds for the spring garden. Might it be a good idea to add some other animal to your menagerie so that caring for it could occupy some of the idle time?
Peace,
Nancy
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
juststartn
Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 17 2007
Location: Oklahoma
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1321
|
| Posted: Feb 27 2009 at 10:05pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
They need hard, physical labor--not sit around and do handwork kind of stuff.
Alot of women put their boys to yard work, if they don't have any heavy work on a farm. Give them a challenge, a task to accomplish...something productive that they can look at it, when finished, and see that they have made a clear difference, accomplished something important and worthwhile...
GL
Rachel
__________________
Married DH 4/1/95
Lily 3/11/00
Helena(Layna) 5/23/02
Sophia 4/19/04
John 5/7/07
David 5/7/07
Ava Maria, in the arms of Jesus, 9/5/08
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Bookswithtea
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 07 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2621
|
| Posted: Feb 28 2009 at 7:01am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Hard work, definitely. Let them know that they are needed and that you are lost without their manly help. Pay them if you can for some of the harder work. Remind dad to occasionally thank him for taking care of things and holding down the fort in his absence. And consider trusting them with axes and things after some training from dad.
When you are completely desperate for something to keep them occupied, try detailed car models from hobby stores (Michaels often has them more affordable than most). When my ds was 11, he needed an escape from his three sisters (we had no other boys at the time and no neighbor boys). He would finish his school and then hang out in our garage, eating apples, listening to music and building intricate car models to display. A bonus was that he learned a bit about car parts! 
A neat story: We've been bumbling along with this issue since our first turned 11. We struggled mightily just to find physical work for him to do that wasn't girly. Its hard when you have 3 girls after a boy. Now that son is 15 and he really does see himself as "holding down the fort" when dad is gone. A few weeks ago we were buried in ice and snow and our driveway, which is over an acre long was inhabitable. I had a carful of the the rest of the kids and was heading out to a homeschool activity while ds stayed home to finish his schoolwork. I slipped on the ice under the snow and my 15 passenger van was seriously stuck...one tire spinning helplessly on ice and just burying us further. As in, "either call AAA and be very late, or just go back in the house and forget it." That same son came out of the house with shovels, de'icer salt, sheets of plywood, and *dug* me out for almost an hour till the car came free. I was shocked. I didn't even know he could do that. He moved the wood, dug, pick axed the ice to break it up, over and over again, placing and replacing the wood.
So anyway, I think its a really good thing to push the masculinity/hard work/taking care of the women and children thing. Boys are hard to raise in our overly academic and technological society (which I think runs counter to their biology). I try to ask myself what Pa Ingalls would have done, and try to find something similar.
__________________
Blessings,
~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and  due 9/10
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JodieLyn
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 06 2006
Location: Oregon
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12234
|
| Posted: Feb 28 2009 at 10:32am | IP Logged
|
|
|
And don't be limited by your own yard.. does the Church need help? Does any elderly neighbors need help? When it snows here.. my kids shovel our drive and then work their way down the street helping anyone who'll take their help. 
Some types of exercise might be appealing as well.. Got a rope you can hang up in a tree or garage for him to climb? a chin up bar? what about push ups or sit ups.. running, lifting weights if you have such things.
__________________
Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SuzanneG
Forum Moderator
Joined: June 17 2006
Location: Idaho
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5465
|
| Posted: March 07 2009 at 10:34am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Adding some past threads from the archives that may have a few additional ideas:
Outside Play
10-year-old boys
Describe an 11-year-old
__________________
Suzanne in ID
Wife to Pete
Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
Forum Locked) 
4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: Idle Preteen Boys
