Staying Home for Spring Break

It’s Spring Break, so far this week we haven’t done anything exciting.  We didn’t go away to the beach or even on any local trips to go sightseeing.

Normally, just hanging out around the house and sticking with my normal routine wouldn’t bother me but sometimes when I log onto Facebook and see all the fun things everyone else is doing I can begin to feel like I’m not doing enough.

It’s easy for my children to feel left out and discouraged that they’re not filling up their days with fun activities or trips out of town.

I sometimes wonder whatever happened to the lazy spring days whereas a child the most exciting part of the day was playing outside with friends, exploring the creek and coming home only to eat lunch, check-in and return for the evening. 

Most kids today spend their free time busy with sports or playing the latest gaming systems.  Teens head to the beaches for Spring Break and unsupervised party time.  As my children have grown older my teens definitely want to be busy with their friends regardless of whether that means shopping, going to the movies or just hanging out.

It’s a hard balance, especially when Mom is exhausted and barely has the energy to do normal everyday tasks.  Today I find myself feeling that way.  I’m not sure if my allergies are zapping my energy or if something else is causing it but either way, I really don’t want to be out running my children all over town.

So, how do we balance this?  Well, sometimes my children just need to be understanding and know that Mom isn’t going to run just because they want it.  We stay busy enough especially now that most of us are doing so much better.  I think you would be tired just looking at my calendar and seeing how many miles I put on my poor ole van.

I guess you could call me “old school” because I don’t feel that it’s necessary for my children to be entertained.  I don’t feel it’s necessary to keep them out of the house in order to occupy their time.  I’m even that Mom who doesn’t want my children playing every sport out there just because their friends are.

I would much rather my children read a good book outside in the sunshine or snuggled up in a blanket inside.  I’d rather they learn a skill or be trained in music in order to bring a blessing to others.  I want them to be exposed to the culture, to history and other people.  There’s nothing wrong with sports but for me personally, unless the family is involved I’d rather we not spend 5 days a week at practices and games for one child.

I guess my attitude about all of this is very different than for most but that’s OK with me.  It hasn’t always been easy for some of my children but at the same time with our history of having Chronic Lyme Disease for the past 8 years, it really didn’t matter much anyway.

Our children were involved in sports but only as we could include it in our schedule without separating the family or running Mom ragged and I don’t regret my decisions.  I hope my children grow up to be balanced and less stressed because of the choices I made in this area for our family as a whole.  I hope they look back with memories of the meaningful things we did together rather than a cluttered mass of events and busyness.

As far as Spring Break for this year, well, I’m enjoying my break as a Homeschool Mom.  I decided beforehand that I was going to use my break to do a little spring cleaning, catch-up on grading, begin planning our curriculum choices for next year and most importantly to catch-up on some much-needed rest.  It’s turned out to be a cold and rainy week so it’s been the perfect week to stay home.

My little guy is having fun playing with his friends and my girls each have been making plans to spend time with friends, catch up with schoolwork or just to hang out at home.

I hope you’re doing what you want to do this Spring Break.