Spring Break

Why do we call it spring break?  The name implies rest and relaxation, and yet, as a parent it is one of the most hectic weeks of the year.

I know spring break was originally set up for planting season when all the kids were needed on the farm. As most families have moved off the farm and planting season has been automated, the break has taken on a different meaning.

If you watch the movies and read the news you will see spring break is an orgy of college students at the beach.  It is families ditching their "real" lives and heading for warmer weather.  It is a smorgasbord of people doing things they wouldn't normally do.

And then there is my family.

We don't "do" spring break...we survive spring break.  Spring break is a time when schedules are different and routines are interrupted.  While it is nice to sleep in a little, I have to admit to missing the sound of the bus taking my kids away to the land of learning.

So as the day breaks, and I sit in my PJ's, completely ignoring my regular routine, I will dream of a sunny island breeze and the relaxing sound of waves in the distance.  I will ignore the sounds of children stampeding in my house and block out the disaster my clean kitchen has become.

When this "break" is over I will need a vacation...and that my dear friends is what parents call school.