Idle parenting...

Having read Tom Hodgkinsons book 'How to be free', I then went on to read his blog on the Idler website. But here comes a brand new book that I think will bring lots of points for discussion!!!
I for one can say, that if I am busy in the kitchen, (which is most mornings as we seem to eat one batch of bread and cakes each and every day!!!) the boys if left to their own devices will happily occupy themselves...sometimes Will and David together, sometimes they are apart. The older two are invariably outside somewhere in the workshop or garden.
There are days when we all do something together...either in or out but this usually is much more stressful than the natural separations that occur. Sometimes I long for days out together or activities as a whole, but at the moment that can be more harmful than enjoyable! We went to the museum together, and obviously our trips to the woods are together, but even then some kind of grouping occurs.
That doesn't mean I don't do anything with them if they want to, and I do try to instigate activities for them to try, and occaisionally when I'm having a wobbly day, I insist that they do something 'educational'...this usually equates to me finding a maths programme or workbook for them and then realising that it is a waste of time and that they are quite capable of doing these things, but are bored and uninspired by most of them.
One area that we are bad in is socialising on an organised level. We all shy away from this except Tom, who has always been involved in Scouts and now Explorers too.
That is something that we are trying to work on. Looking forward to HE camp in May!!! With a few nerves, obviously!!