Photo by D Sharon Pruitt, flickr

But the pressure to always be working is hard to resist, even when it comes to my kid. And the fact that my kid tends to forget stuff that doesn’t engage him… well, maybe I should prepare a few summer lesson plans, just in case.

On the other hand, perhaps I should declare an unschooling summer, more impressive-sounding than “we’re not doing anything this summer.” Because really, that’s what my kid wants–a few months to do nothing. In reality, that means skateboarding, tracking weather, building stuff from random wood scraps. The kind of activities that produce new knowledge and great summer memories, but whose benefits aren’t measured by standardized tests.

How’s your summer shaping up?

Trying to help her get over an extreme case of bedtime giggles last night, I suggested she think about something boring in her life. Surely she had some boring moments she could reflect on.

Was preschool ever boring, I asked?

No.

How about home? After all, we don’t fill every minute of our kids’ lives with enrichment or entertainment.

No, my daughter answered. In fact, she said this, almost sounding like she was complaining: “There’s nothing in my life that is boring.”

Since she didn’t have any boring thoughts to fall back on, my daughter got to sit up with me and watch The Daily Show, followed by a very boring home improvement show that finally did the trick.