K & O’s School Spring Break Wrap-Up

K & O’s school did a two-week long spring break this year. They did it sort of experimentally– to see how it would be, for all involved, to do two weeks in a row instead of two separate weeks for school spring vacation. I thought it was an absolutely ridiculous idea (especially for families in which all parents in the house work), and I was dreading it and already lobbying to go back to the two separate weeks next year before this year’s break had even begun. Boy, did I have to change my tune and swallow my pride– I was wrong, oh so wrong– having two weeks in a row turned out to be greater than great and, now, I wouldn’t want it any other way. And because we had Sadie for a couple days at the start of this past week (the week they would have gone back to school on Monday), K & O actually didn’t go back until Wednesday — meaning that they actually had a 2.5 week long spring break. Now, granted, we have Margie (unlike most working families who do not have a nanny they can rely upon), and she definitely was a God-send, but still… I’d still argue for the two weeks in a row no matter what. By the end of the first week we were all settled into “school break mode” and it was gelling gelling gelling… so that by the end of the whole break we felt like an entirely different family (in a good way). Less stressed, less short-fused with each other, and less concerned with the grind.

Without having to rush them to make it to the bus, we could spend that time instead making pancakes (blueberry for Kyle, chocolate chip for Owen, plain jane for Meera). Long, leisurely breakfasts in the morning can never be a bad start to a day…

We did plan some fun things to break up the time. We blogged about some of them– Easter, of course, and our trip to Massachusetts; lunch on campus, and basketball with Zahir and Marquis; golfing with Papi; etc. We also had our teenage neighbor girl come over for some “Trampoline Tricks Lessons” one day, and had a play date at good friends’ house another day. But mostly, the boys just hung out. Which, ultimately, I believe, is the best thing for kids. Because that is what leads to all the really good stuff of childhood… like lots of tree climbing and ditch digging and dandelion picking and the artful skill of doing “nothing” (which is, actually, doing everything that is the truly important stuff for kids to do).

And by the middle of the second week of our family room was permanently set up like this (an elaborate fort with separate rooms and tunnels inside):

And there was time for some of the most randomly random random stuff imaginable (the best kind of stuff), like, for example, “Vine Trimming” — a big huge job which requires skill and suave with a pair of scissors (??!!?). K & O spent hours– literally hours– on our deck doing this. Why? Who knows. It does not matter. And it is good for the vines, too. So, all was good.

And Meera… well, she was just thrilled to have her brothers home all day every day.

We did go to NYC for one day (already blogged about that). And that was a big outing.

But otherwise, we were just at home. And when home looks like this… seriously… who wouldn’t want to just be at home? Spring here is truly heavenly. And K & O’s spring break timing corresponded perfectly with the height of the spring magic around here. So it wasn’t even all that hard to convince the boys to stay home to play baseball in the yard instead of going to the baseball field down the road. And so, many baseball games were played (luckily Braydon is a good sport with this, and even more luckily — MorFar visited twice during spring break and he’s always good for a few games)… and so it went…

…And before we knew it, it was over. And I found myself typing an email to the boys’ school administrator thanking the school for forcing a two week break upon us. And then, on Wednesday, it was back to the grind. Back the whole rigmarole of the a.m. rush, the p.m. routine, packing lunches, and emptying backpacks, and not being able to wear your p.j.s all day long. And we find ourselves sort of wishing that summer was here already. But, the good news is, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. And so, it was a great spring break.