Boredom

[BandB]

I know there's much to be gained with kids sailing. It's educational and all that. However, just because it's right for an adult doesn't make it that for kids. In addition, just because they say it's great doesn't make it great for them. Sailing isn't functioning in the normal society they're have to learn to live with. I skipped grades and while my learning of subjects was great and I was an adult very early, I never had the chance to play and socialize with kids my age. Kids who sail are exposed to a lot, but they are not exposed to many things that other kids their age at home are. I saw kids starting college who had been shielded from public schools and mainstream private, who had lived in remote areas or with missionary parents in foreign countries and while they had some knowledge others didn't, some had a very difficult time assimilating. I understand "not fitting in" and also some went wild to make up for lost time.

It's a decision parents have to make.

However, my point to the OP regarding waiting longer to have kids and being around 40 is that you have very little time of your own then until you're 64 or 65. Then you're jealous of the 50 year old parents whose last kid just graduated from college and they're now ready to retire and travel. I think also if you really enjoy the sailing will there be a sadness in going back and having kids. Will there always be some sadness you're not enjoying what you did before the kids. I've heard parents say things like "oh life was so much fun before we had kids." The kids heard them say that too. The kids said nothing but they carried a hurt over that without really ever letting their parents explain. They judged a lot of things after that by that statement. They distanced some from their parents and their parents never knew why.

So it's make the decisions right for you and the kids and if the right decision for the kids isn't right for you, then maybe you shouldn't have kids. There are a lot of unwanted kids today. Parents pretend but their actions and words speak louder.

[CaptsWife]

Originally Posted by zboss

Hasn't the kid ever seen "Below Decks"? It's just like that... boobs and all! He will have a great time!

ROFL!

[CaptsWife]

The OP never said anything about sailing or cruising. Just living aboard. Perhaps the kid is right.......living aboard (just living aboard, NOT cruising or sailing) COULD get boring. Just sayin'.

[UNCIVILIZED]

I know that as kids my brother & I always had a great time at marinas & when on cruises. There were always things to learn & do underway, & marinas were big playgrounds. With each port a new place to explore, both with & without parents.

Perhaps it helped that dad was a teacher, & thus knew how to direct us towards things so that we'd find them interesting. But learning how to drive the boat, & standing watches, even if but for an hour, at age 10 was FUN. As was navigating, weather forecasting, etc.

You might try doing a "grid down" weekend at home. Where no electronics, & little electrical is used. Learning games to play, as a family, & the kids by themselves. Learning to make bread & other things from scratch. Along with the how & why of some of the steps. Or even changing the oil in the car with dad, or giving the lawnmower a tuneup. Including checking & gapping the spark plugs. Why, what they do, & how. Since while I take for granted having learned that stuff before I could ride a bike, none of the above is necessarily common knowledge anymore.

I guess a big part of it is turning on that spark of discovery in kids, so that they want to roam, play, & discover. And you can add to it by doing things like having some of their friends over for spaghetti & board game night. Where some (or all) of you play Monopoly at the kitchen table, while another group plays Scrabble (or something else) in the living room (or same room). Heck, if naught else was happening, we would even sit for an hour or two & play cards with my grandma & great uncle.

Given that it's still summer, you could find an old hand crank ice cream maker, & have folks over for homemade pie & ice cream. Where everyone helps to make things, including taking turns cranking the machine. Not to mention slicing up fruit for the pies, mixing & rolling the crusts, & so on.

I know that even as an adult, story night is still fun. Where tales are read aloud, much as has transpired since pre-history days. Allbeit usually from books anymore.


PS: Everyone has jobs onboard. And like Capt. Ron says, "do a good job, & you get a better one".

[BandB]

Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED

You might try doing a "grid down" weekend at home. Where no electronics, & little electrical is used. Learning games to play, as a family, & the kids by themselves. Learning to make bread & other things from scratch. Along with the how & why of some of the steps. Or even changing the oil in the car with dad, or giving the lawnmower a tuneup. Including checking & gapping the spark plugs. Why, what they do, & how. Since while I take for granted having learned that stuff before I could ride a bike, none of the above is necessarily common knowledge anymore.

I guess a big part of it is turning on that spark of discovery in kids, so that they want to roam, play, & discover. And you can add to it by doing things like having some of their friends over for spaghetti & board game night. Where some (or all) of you play Monopoly at the kitchen table, while another group plays Scrabble (or something else) in the living room (or same room). Heck, if naught else was happening, we would even sit for an hour or two & play cards with my grandma & great uncle.

Given that it's still summer, you could find an old hand crank ice cream maker, & have folks over for homemade pie & ice cream. Where everyone helps to make things, including taking turns cranking the machine. Not to mention slicing up fruit for the pies, mixing & rolling the crusts, & so on.

.

Wifey B: If you tried to pull that on today's kids, you'd have a riot. If you tried it on me, you'd have a riot.

Hence, part of the problem. What worked for you and your father was long ago and asking kids to go back to that, to live in that world, isn't fair. The kids we're around are great kids (the hundred of all ages at the orphanage) and they play outdoors during the day, they come in and play games together, typically video games (good hand/eye coordination). They do plenty of imaginative things and they have responsibilities. They play sports in school, cheer, go to school events with their school mates.

A few might have interest in cars, even go to races occasionally as they're in the middle of Nascar country. A few of the girls might have interest in cooking, although making bread not likely on the list.

They play boardgames with the younger kids and have a blast. They play all sorts of creative games at all ages, first when young, then with all their younger "siblings." The help others with homework.

They've actually made homemade ice cream but not with a hand churn.

Don't impose your world on those growing up in another world, those who may eventually fix the world we've all f...ed up.

They also design clothing and houses on the computer, program and build web sites. They create their own cards for birthdays and holidays. They plan and coordinate special events at the orphanage. They have kids from school over and obviously many there.

We deal with older kids at home and they're amazing. Some are professional captains, some stews, some in other professions.

Neither hubby nor I ever made bread, changed oil in a car, tuned a car, gapped sparkplugs or baked a pie. That sparkplug gapping stuff, that doesn't still exist does it? I thought that kind disappeared.

Hubby and I are quite creative even if we developed it the hard way as only children.

We both spent a lot of time outdoors as kids, he learning to play baseball, basketball and football. Me playing silly games or talking to friends. Hubby spent time on the lake, operated a boat really young and had his own at 13, swam, fished and water skied. Of course he also started a business at 14 and I was on my own working at 16.

There is nothing wrong with how you were raised but that's not for today's kids.

[Zven]

Originally Posted by BandB

There is nothing wrong with how you were raised but that's not for today's kids.

Unless, of course, you could raise them away from the typical consumer society with all its gadgets and demands.
I'm living in a developing country now and have come to realise, it might just be a great place to have kids.
The family could always move to a more advanced society and get all those toys later... Perhaps making it a gradual process.

[john61ct]

Yes nothing wrong being the one sane person in an insane community.

I've raised three lots of kids, mostly in developing world conditions, an even when living in "civilization", never aircon, a dishwasher or a television in sight.

Maybe "different" but so far always for the better.

[David Chin]

Originally Posted by john61ct

only boring people get bored
long's you got Internet and a few screens, should be OK

After I retired from full time work in 1995, I got bored because I was looking at 30+ years of being permanently on leave. My daughter got me to do FaceBook; that was even more boring, [talking to strangers who have nothing in common with you and are mostly trolls and cyber bullies].

The next thing I was introduced to, was just the thing I needed. I became a blogger. The only topic I did was xxx. What is the most interesting subject for any body? me, me ME of course!

I wrote blogs about all MY interests and hobbies. I even wrote a blog on how to blog [FAQ]. I am not kidding. I have more than 70 blogs on the internet. A few of them are private; but most of them are public. Some of them are about sailing: https://davidchin38.blogspot.co.nz/p...her-blogs.html

When there is wind I go sailing; when no wind I play golf. If the weather is lousy, I blogged. When I cannot sleep, I blog. A blog is not something you can finish doing. You can always edit existing posts or add another new post, another photo or even another video. There is simply no end to this thing called blogging. I strongly recommend this past-time to all of you who use a computer with a full size keyboard.

Most of you here on CF are cruisers, some living on your boats far away from home, friends and loved ones. To find out what you are doing, all they have to do is open and read your blog!

[Taichungman]

Depends on the kids age but there is always something to do on a boat or near a boat. My kids were never bored. At least they never told me; they knew I would give them a job to do.

Keep'em busy and the kids won't be bored. I had a nine year old that read over a 100 books the first year on the boat...and a 5 year old that could and would sail the boat by himself if I would let him.

Your kids might be bored at first but give them time and they will see and feel the joy of sailing and being with their parents.

[Three Sisters]

Originally Posted by Papasail

So my kid says "living aboard a boat seems like it would get boring after a while". I can see some truth in it? Anyone want to counter this millenial assertion?

B

What's to counter ? You've at least one crewmember capable of honest communication. I'm jealous. Later with the stereotypes, though, if you can wait, fresh out at the moment.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Originally Posted by BandB

Wifey B: If you tried to pull that on today's kids, you'd have a riot. If you tried it on me, you'd have a riot.

Hence, part of the problem. What worked for you and your father was long ago and asking kids to go back to that, to live in that world, isn't fair. The kids we're around are great kids (the hundred of all ages at the orphanage) and they play outdoors during the day, they come in and play games together, typically video games (good hand/eye coordination). They do plenty of imaginative things and they have responsibilities. They play sports in school, cheer, go to school events with their school mates.

A few might have interest in cars, even go to races occasionally as they're in the middle of Nascar country. A few of the girls might have interest in cooking, although making bread not likely on the list.

They play boardgames with the younger kids and have a blast. They play all sorts of creative games at all ages, first when young, then with all their younger "siblings." The help others with homework.

They've actually made homemade ice cream but not with a hand churn.

Don't impose your world on those growing up in another world, those who may eventually fix the world we've all f...ed up.

They also design clothing and houses on the computer, program and build web sites. They create their own cards for birthdays and holidays. They plan and coordinate special events at the orphanage. They have kids from school over and obviously many there.

We deal with older kids at home and they're amazing. Some are professional captains, some stews, some in other professions.

Neither hubby nor I ever made bread, changed oil in a car, tuned a car, gapped sparkplugs or baked a pie. That sparkplug gapping stuff, that doesn't still exist does it? I thought that kind disappeared.

Hubby and I are quite creative even if we developed it the hard way as only children.

We both spent a lot of time outdoors as kids, he learning to play baseball, basketball and football. Me playing silly games or talking to friends. Hubby spent time on the lake, operated a boat really young and had his own at 13, swam, fished and water skied. Of course he also started a business at 14 and I was on my own working at 16.

There is nothing wrong with how you were raised but that's not for today's kids.

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here, and it seems neither are you. As you talk about you or kids not being able to unplug, & then go on to list all of the things you & they have done which doesn't require a keyboard or a cell phone. Including many of the ones which I mentioned.
BTW, you can take laptops & pads on boats, & most people do. So it's not a fully either or thing.

There's a HUGE plethora of things to do on & around the water, & if you don't believe me, here's a gent who talks about the positive lifestyle changes made by himself & whole family, when sailing "full time". Some of the convo that's directly about kids starts around minute 6, but it's all through the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaRmkSHtTvw

[BandB]

Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here, and it seems neither are you. As you talk about you or kids not being able to unplug, & then go on to list all of the things you & they have done which doesn't require a keyboard or a cell phone. Including many of the ones which I mentioned.
BTW, you can take laptops & pads on boats, & most people do. So it's not a fully either or thing.

Wifey B: The point I make is it's not for everyone and we may do a lot of outdoor things but never far from cell phones and tablets and computers and, with kids, they're never far from their friends. The point is that I can fully understand the "boredom" as the OP mentioned.