How many more days of break?

Work has been so thoroughly kicking my ass of late, I was really excited to go on break. Wednesday night, I kept remember that I didn’t have work the next day and I felt positively giddy.

Thursday my kids had school but I didn’t, and I spent the day at the SFUSD enrollment office getting questions answered about Pre-K and TK options for my son, after which I was able to have lunch with my husband down town. I also got my allergy shot, and braved Costco for a few things we needed.

This morning my son woke up at 5:30am (not that uncommon for him since the time change) and we hit the ground running. My kids spent most of the morning fighting with each other, sullenly declaring how bored they were, or flat out refusing my requests to put away their stuff or eat something. My husband only gets Christmas and New Years days off, and since we aren’t going anywhere he didn’t request any more, so for most of the next two weeks it will just be me and my kids. Suddenly I was reminded what 15 days will really be like, and the break no longer seemed quite so appealing.

I immediately started thinking about how I could make this time manageable for all of us. We’ll definitely need a schedule each day, with a few planned activities interspersed with down time. We will definitely be practicing quiet time, or mommy needs a break, A LOT. Also we’ll be doing a lot of cleaning up before we start doing something new (which won’t go over well AT ALL).

I pulled out my kitchen-science, tinker and art books to give me some ideas for projects. I texted a few friends that I knew had a couple of days off to see if we could get together. I really like spending the day out of the house, but my daughter especially really likes staying at home. I’m going to try hard to honor her needs and only plan a few things. I might also be able to set up some play dates, but if my son is around when my daughter has a friend over, no one has a good time, so I’ll have to figure that out. Blerg. Why did I think this break was going to be a… well, a break?

I’m glad Christmas comes at the beginning of it, because my kids are basket cases waiting for the day to arrive. We aren’t doing a lot of the “fun” Christmas stuff that I love (or think I love?) but I’m okay with that. My son definitely doesn’t want to sit on Santa’s lap and my daughter doesn’t care so that isn’t happening. (Entering a mall at this point would be a suicide mission, with how present-obsessed my 4-year-old is, so I’m fine dodging that bullet). We are hitting up our amusement park’s Winter Wonderland AFTER Christmas because my dad is sick with the flu. It will probably be way more manageable that week anyway. We still hope to walk the streets with the crazy lights on Christmas Eve with my parents, which my kids love. I might also get ginger bread houses after Christmas day, when they are on sale, so we can do that one (the kids really enjoyed it last year). The reality is, all this Christmas stuff doesn’t have to happen before Christmas day. I don’t need to create that added pressure.

I decided not to do cards this year, and I’m 95% okay with that. I am going to double down my efforts on getting the summer photo books done because I have a 50% off your entire purchase code for Shutterfly that ends on the 28th and the books eventually need to get made and printed, and there is no reason I can’t get them done while I’m on break (and save a shit ton of money). I also need to make my grandmother’s calendar… Those are really the only things I need to get done in the next week.

I hope to go to work one day (my husband might take off so I can do that), so I can start the new year with my grading up to date and my first month planned. There are some PTA things I should do as well… breaks are always good for getting the stuff you’re always putting off done.

I just hope my kids don’t drive me crazy for the next 15 days. They both have so much attitude (oh how my 4-year-old can mimic his sister’s tone and mannerisms!) and it’s all I can do not to yell at them in frustration (at one point today I screamed, YOU NEED TO STOP SCREAMING AT ME!) at which point I laughed and told them to do as I say, not as I do, which I then had to explain. We all recognized how ludicrous it was that I yelled at them not to yell, and we had a good laugh about it, for about 20 seconds before one of them started antagonizing the other and the vicious cycle began repeating itself.

Blerg. The days really are going to be long. I hope there are some quiet moments too. I hope we can enjoy each others company, at least for some of it.

What are you looking forward to for the next two weeks?

What are you dreading?

6 Comments

  1. I’m happy that I get to spend time with my kids and that they get a break from school and day care, and at the same time I know that at least days 4+ will be nerves-wrecking. We have a 5.5 years age difference, so they don’t really fight, but my daughter is prone to…well, rage, if her brother looks at her the wrong way at the wrong time, so there is always a lot of screaming during the holidays. But we’ll probably take turns doing some work, so we both get breaks.
    My son was/is the same as your daughter. He never wanted to go anywhere or do anything when he was 0-5. He loved to be at home, at our yard, and at the nearby park, with me or with his dad, not with anyone else. Now he thankfully has a lot of friends and the best thing he knows is to hang out with them around the neighborhood, schedule-free, and be ninjas or something like that. So he hasn’t changed that much, but now he arranges his own fun, so I mostly only have to deal with my daughter. This is one great thing in a long age gap.

    1. I was really excited to spend time with my kids, and am happy they get a break from school (we’ve all had some kind of cold for a month and need the rest), but if every day is like yesterday it’s going to be a loooong two weeks. But this morning my son work up at 7:30 so we’re already starting on the right foot! When the day starts at 5:45 there is no way for it to not feel long.

  2. I gave my last final Wednesday and I was so excited for break. My semester grades are done and I am planned for the first two weeks of January. Very excited to be off with my three kiddos, 4 year old twin boys and a 4 month baby boy. It does help that my husband took some time off around Christmas. I go back on the second so trying to enjoy the time we have even with the messy house and the boys not always listening.

    Hope you find sometime to rest during your break.

    1. Wow! I’m jelly of how set for work you are! I have so much to grade and haven’t inputted anything. Going to work once or twice will be a nice break from my break though, so I’m okay with that. 😉 I hope you have so much fun with your twins and your newborn!

  3. I get to be with all my children and grands…… super wonderful for me.
    Shall be thinking of you all and absolutely sending wishes for laughter and joy and family and LOVE. Thank you all for enriching my world and life.

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