Summer Update II: Camp

On a camp note, Aharon is in camp and he dreads the learning.  He said the davening is tolerable but the learning is so long and boring.  The whole davening and learning is from 9-11:30 with recess.  I really may have to look into a more modern Orthodox camp where learning is only 45 minutes.  I'm honestly considering driving him to camp after learning.  But then he misses davening, and he likes davening well enough.  And it's not like he has to "learn to tolerate it."  He's a trooper and can sit through it.  Watching him sniffle and rub his eyes this morning as he waited for the bus was pretty agonizing, though.  I offered to buy him a lego set to offset the pain of the learning.  I also told him that he doesn't actually have to do the work (as far as I can see, it is Hebrew word finds and parsha coloring pages) but he looked at me like I was nuts for saying he doesn't have to.  I offered to write the Rebbi a note and he declined.  He has an overdeveloped sense of responsibility.  He does love the sports, though.  However, he's so looking forward to not sitting through learning that he won't even consider going to camp at all.

Sometimes I ask myself, how is it that none of my children can sit through standard learning?  He's not adhd.  How is it that he finds it such agonizing torture?  Why do my kids have such thin skin and inability to tolerate it? Is this going to be a problem later in life?

And sometimes I think to myself: sitting passively for a long time and doing activities that you find boring IS torture.  My kids are just not habituated to tolerating that.  Homeschooled kids as a general rule are not.