March Break Misnomer

Okay parents, I'm sure some of you are with me on this one.

Today is the Sunday following March Break.  I know that March Break is supposed to be a break for the kids.  Really, I think it's a break for the poor teachers who tirelessly deal with our kids every day!  But what it definitely is not is a break for the parents.  Well unless you're the family who takes time off work and travels to do something fun (and often expensive) over March Break.  We're not that family.

We have a swell daycare that takes our kids for March Break and Christmas holidays, plus PA days and all that.  She's great, the kids love her, and life is good there.  But there's something about these non-school days that makes me feel like we, the parents, should be trying to spend time with our kids when they're not at school.

This year we had sick kids over March Break.  Isn't it disappointing how often that happens?  So the Friday before the break one kiddo came home sick, then the other kid came down with it the Thursday of the break.  Luckily the second bout didn't include the vomiting that the first one did.

Since I have Wednesdays off, and there was no dance class for myself or my kids this week, I picked them up early from daycare and took them to see Little Ray's Reptile show here at the mall.  They love all the critters there.  I don't love the other kids in the way of my photos, or running around screaming through the mall.

My hubby's birthday often falls during March Break (and it did so again this year.)  He has an aversion to working on his birthday - and he usually has vacation days to use up this time of year - so he "stayed home" the Thursday and Friday of March Break.  He kept the girls home on Thursday - his actual birthday.  Well, "kept them home" isn't really what happened.  Despite Emma not feeling well, they went and did a build at Home Depot.  I think now he's stuck taking them to the builds there whenever they happen.  The girls loved it!

But despite the fun days, life is crazy busy all the time and that doesn't stop for March Break.  Sometimes trying to fit in fun around work schedules is so much more exhausting than the status quo of all the other weeks of the year.  Throw in some days when the kids are under-the-weather and life just doesn't really flow well at all.

I, for one, will be happy to get back to the busy "normal" weeks I'm used to.  Well, until next week when we have to start getting ready for Emma's next Fashion Show!

How was your March Break?  Go anywhere fun?  See anything cool?  Share with me in the comments!

~Jess

March Means Spring, Right?

I can't wait for the snow to move along.  It's March now, time for winter to make way for spring!  I can't wait to get outside, go for walks (without 3 layers of clothing on!), and get into the gardens.

Last summer I created a post about enjoying the outdoors and being in the garden.  You can read that here: http://modern-moms-life.blogspot.ca/2015/06/nature-loving-mom.html *warning - I talk about spiders in that post!*

This temperatures this coming week are all above 0 (after today, of course) and I'm imagining the kids going outside to play with less fights (and also less layers on), and sitting on the deck with my wine and whatever book I'm reading.  In reality it'll be wet and icky for at least a week and no one will go outside at all.  Hmm, on that note, where are the kids splash pants?  With any luck we'll need them soon.

We have another busy month going on: birthday party invitation for Rose to attend, first confession and mall fashion show audition (and rehearsal if they like her!) for Emma.  There are school field trips and March Break upcoming as well.  Throw in Dad's birthday and there's a full month!  Every month and season has it's busy moments.

The kids have mixed feeling about winter being over.  I don't blame them - we barely had "winter" as I remember it as a kid.  The snow didn't really come until well into January, and even then it melted between each snowfall.  We had some ice days and not many good days for playing in the snow.  At least they don't know what they're missing - in their short lives we haven't had a "good" winter for snow and sledding and all that.

I'll be glad if the snow disappears this week, with little slush-making and wet, cold days.  Maybe by March Break the outdoors will be calling to the kids, and the smushy wet ground will be dried out enough for the kids to go to the park.  I can dream, right?

What are you looking forward to this month, or this spring?  Is there still snow in your neck of the woods?  Are your kids sad to see winter go?  Share with me in the comments please!

Well that's enough musing for now - time to get ready for Rose's ballet class.  Maybe next week we'll be able to go in shoes instead of boots.  Bring on the spring!

~Jess