...down time...

The kids are on spring break this week. There is both fear and relief when breaks like this come around. The fear of me going crazy, and the relief of being able to sleep in just a few minutes later, with mornings where I am not rushing everyone out the door.

  The very first day of break, all three of my lovelies started whining about nothing to do right around 10am. Mustering up as much patience as I could, we had a "meeting" where we discussed the different things we could do when we were bored. I was surprised that they thought of so many, as I was sure they were completely stumped when they were moaning and groaning not 15 minutes prior.

Nevertheless, we came up with a pretty exhaustive list, ranging from reading, to napping, to playing different games, to going outside. We also discussed mealtimes, in order to prevent me from getting trapped in the kitchen all day. With the ground rules in place, we began to enjoy our break together.

There were games, both indoor and out.

 There were pictures, both painted and drawn.

 There were books, both read and colored.

 There were treats, both made and eaten.

 There were forts, built up and torn down.
 

 And there was a birthday party for a dear cousin...whose hair did stay flame-free.

There was helping, with cooking and cleaning.
There was love, camaraderie, and a few *ahem* disagreements.
All in all, it has been a good break. It has been fun to see the kids reference the list, and it has been heavenly not having them whine about what to do.