How to Conquer Boredom While in the Hospital

Sparkler penguins_quack recently spent some time in the hospital. We hope her recovery is going well! —SparkNotes editors

I was recently hit by a truck and only just got out of hospital. Okay, I didn't quite get hit by a truck, but pretty much. I was cycling on the wrong side of the road and crashed into an oncoming truck. My bike was destroyed, and so was my knee. I had to spend 12 days in the hospital and have two operations. While I was there, I wrote this article to help out people who find themselves in a similar predicament. Here's how to make your hospital stay bearable:

1. Avoid the truck and don't land in the hospital in the first place. Best way to dodge hospital boredom? Don't end up in the hospital. So listen to me here, children, and obey road rules. They are there for your safety. My mom is furious that I didn't obey road rules, and was seriously begging the police officer to fine me.

2. Use your call button to play songs for the nurses. My call buttons made a perfect musical instrument. Start playing something simple like "Hot Cross Buns," and once you've got the hang of it, move on to something more difficult, like "Zero to Hero" from Disney's Hercules. Maybe get the person in the bed beside you to join in. You could have a full orchestra of beeps.

3. Entertain visitors (AKA whine). We all love visitors, right? If they don't come willingly, spend your whole time on the phone milking them for sympathy (by the way, although I'm home, I'm still housebound, so I will be milking you for sympathy in the comments). Feel free to use the "I got hit by a truck" line as much as you want. I'm also garnering sympathy with the fact that I missed the concert of my favorite band, which I had been waiting for for months. Rise Against, I vow I will make it to your next concert.

4. Memorize the lyrics to every song on your iPod. I'm currently working on A Whole New World from Aladdin. If you do this in conjunction with #2, you'll be able to beep out a whole range of songs while singing along to them, which is awesome.

5. Time how long it takes for a nurse to respond to your call button. The longest I have recorded was well over an hour. The shortest, less than a second. You can guess which nurse I liked better.

6. Sing inspirational songs when physically exerting yourself. I accompanied my first journey on crutches by singing Mulan's "I'll Make a Man Out of You." Actually, I think I was singing that song most of the time... all of the time... I like that song, okay?

7. Watch Disney movies and listen to their soundtracks. You might not know it about me, but I love my Disney movies and their songs. So if you can get your hands on a way to play them, watch Disney movies. My brothers bought Up for me and it was fantastic. I cried. Also, [spoiler alert] Ellie looks like my aunt. I also played Disney soundtracks constantly on my iPod. Well, that and the Doctor Horrible soundtrack. But I don't need to tell you to play that. You should already be doing it.

So that's how I beat hospital boredom. I hope you're lucky enough never to have to try these methods out. Remember: no getting hit by trucks, okay?

Have you ever been in the hospital? For what?

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