" It's Only June !"

I'm bored. I'm bored, I'm bored, I'm bored.
No, I'm not bored but it is summer again so Katie is. I hear her declaration of boredom several times each day. It really doesn't help that she was able to go to Raleigh,N.C. with her sister the first week that school was let out. Constant visual and physical stimulation for a week and then, BAM, as Emeril would say, right back to small town life. Culture shock to a degree. And when I said as much, I was told " I don't want to learn a new word! ".
What happened to enjoying the lazy part of summer? I tried to explain that she needs to learn to enjoy not having a schedule and the fine art of relaxation. Katie likes to read, but not now. I suggested starting a journal. Not interested. I offered to teach her how to crochet. She shot me a look as if I had said something totally disgusting. I offered to go for a walk. No response. I know , The Air Force band is going to be playing down the street at the old theater, we could walk there together and check them out. I'll admit this is one I really wanted to do. But didn't want to go alone. Another " You're kidding me right? " look. I almost called my friend, Shelly after that to see if she was game.
O.K. what else can I suggest? Why don't you call one of your friends to come over and hang out or I can take you to a friends house to hang out for awhile? This is what we did at Katie's age. We took turns at each others house's each day and just did the girl talk thing. Laugh a lot. Talk about boys of course. Maybe walk and talk about boys. She wasn't on that suggestion either.
This is becoming a challenge. How about we play a game. Dominoes, clue, rummy, trivial pursuit, monopoly? No response. A little later however she did say that she forgot how to play dominoes. Could she be showing some interest? I suggested that we could play on the front porch so we would have plenty of room to spread the dominoes. There was no response.
She suggested taking the dogs for a ride in the car. I told her I would be willing but not while it was dark out. It was evening by now and I don't care for driving at night.
We have discussed the fact that 14 is sort of an in between age. You're too old for little girl things , yet too young for big girl things. We also live in a town where there really isn't much to do, at least for her age group.
Frank, my son and his wife Amy are going camping Sunday and said that Kate could come along. I guess Frank forgot our camping trip! She seemed receptive to that idea. She would like to babysit over the summer, but we don't know of anyone who may need her services. She babysat last summer for a month and did well with it. It seems that people in today's world use daycare, or really need to know someone personally first. Which I totally understand. I suggested that she call the family that she babysat for last summer to see if they may need her again. No reply.
I have put her to work around here but she still says " It's boring ", Your kidding me right? Housework boring? Bite your tongue child! In response to this I said " Yes it can be boring (although in reality, I love it!) but it's an alternative to sitting and doing nothing!"
By this time I am getting a bit of a sweet tooth. All this discussion of boredom is boring me right into wanting something sweet. Whats that old saying? " Necessity is the mother of invention?" I don't know if this actually pertains to my, our sweet tooth, but it did get my wheels to turning. How about if we cook some sugar? I thought if we caramelized it and poured it over popcorn, well , maybe we would have caramel corn. Want to give it a try? Finally, she was all for trying that. This I should have known would work. My husband has long since learned that when Katie is down, the key to lifting her spirits, if only temporarily, is to break out the sweets. So off to the kitchen we went. I told her what to do, even though I myself had never tried this. She did all of the cooking while I walked the dogs. That part I liked! When the sugar was all caramelized it looked so good that this silly 51 year old woman reached down into the pot with her finger, as my Katie was saying, " No don't it's hot!" Right into the hot caramelized mixture my finger went. So as the sugar mixture hardened on my finger, and I was standing there feeling the fool in pain, Katie says " Mom, your 51 years old, don't you know any better?". As I was reaching for the aloe plant I keep in the kitchen, because you never know when someone might do something stupid, I said " Even 51 year old's do dumb things!". In my defense, it looked to good to resist. Well I know better now. Think before you act, right?
I put the popcorn in the microwave. I would have made real popcorn but I didn't have any. When it was finished , Katie drizzled the melted sugar all over the hot popcorn. All the while Ruby and Roxy are having a fit from the smell of the popcorn! Kate and I went into the living room and sat on the couch together to share our treat. The popcorn mixture did stick together a little as it cooled, but it was sooooo good,we couldn't stop eating it.


One of Ruby's favorite treats is popcorn. I don't give the dogs people food very much. Just some raw vegetables. They love baby carrots! But I do make an exception with popcorn. I always make them wait until we are done before we give them a piece or two. If I didn't make them wait they would not control themselves. Well Ruby wouldn't. Roxy has more manners. Ruby gets a crazed look of anticipation.


Roxy is much more well behaved. Not to worry, they both got a piece!


The popcorn seemed to do the trick in more ways then one. If only temporarily. It seems that I am going to have to get a little more creative with ideas this summer! Maybe keeping it simple is the key. I do believe that I will bring this summer time dilemma to prayer. Any Ideas?