Spring Break, as the name implies, is a time at the beginning of Spring to take a brief pause or break, before continuing on with the rest of life's required activities (school, for example).
My little family and I decided to use Spring Break as a break from school, swim classes and every other scheduled activity we could get away from. It was great. It was bliss. It was a lot of time together...
Although we love each other and enjoyed the time we spent together, I soon realised that I needed a break from Spring Break. We all did. My six year old needed to get away from her three year old sister. She was starving for some peer interaction, almost as much as I was starving to get some housework done (me...). My three year old needed more kids as well.
By Friday I ws pretty grateful that I had pre-registered them in day camps for the whole of Friday. I packed their lunches (a packed lunch is a very cool thing when you're a little kid), packed the oldest's swimsuit, change of clothes, goggles, water bottles, you name it. They each were given a backpack with the things needed for their adventure day.
I went home and spent the first twenty minutes in a panic over how best to use the time. Should I lay down and let my pillow consume me right there? Nap away a whole hour with wild abandon? What abut the laundry? No one had socks left!
Those few hours made me feel like I was five and someone had given me a whole dollar to spend at 7-11! Well, just like a whole dollar at 7-11, a few hours don't stretch very far when you have things like laundry, groceries, paperwork, appointment scheduling and all of those other things to do.
I opted to break my day into two parts. Part one was for me. Part two was for us. I had been given a gift certificate for a pedicure and decided to use that in the morning and made a list of the things I needed to get done while in the chair. I had lunch at a place with a playplace, because I still had one little one at home and it gave her an opportunity to play. After playing and lunch, the little one took a nap and that allowed me to get some work done.
The thing that made it possible to even put the girls into day camp, was a Nike Play Pass that we were able to get from my girls' social worker. It is sort of like a gift certificate for active Portland Park and Rec activities. My girls have used the passes that they have received each quarter for swim classes and other fun stuff.
I provide respite care for a 19 month old foster child and we have used a play pass to enroll her in swim classes. Physical activity does wonders for children. Get them out, get them active.
