Let the break begin!

For some reason my break starts today (I have no idea why – we usually only get the Friday before when Christmas is earlier in the week). I might not understand why we have today off, but I’m very glad that we do! I am so, so ready for a break.

Of course it’s just a break from work, but if I don’t have to sit in front of my computer every night from 9:30 to midnight or 1am (or sit on zooms with students all day) I will definitely take it.

And of course we have no plans for the break. I’m okay with that too. We are lucky that we don’t usually travel at Christmas so it doesn’t feel like we’re missing out on too much. Yes I’d love to celebrate the day with my parents (we still may do something outside like for Thanksgiving) and yes I’d love to just see my in-laws (they don’t leave their house for anything, not even grocery shopping), but the break will largely be the same as breaks of the past – lots of reading and movies and video games.

This is my big plan for the break.

It has always been a favorite but I haven’t read it in decades. I am VERY excited to experience it again for pretty much the first time (I vaguely remember some characters but I can’t seem to remember any major plot points).

I also plan to work on my house a bit, and do some planning for school in January. One of the reasons I’m up so late working every night is I score work and post those scores every night so I don’t have any catch up grading to do (which is usually how I spend 1-2 days of the winter break). It’s a relief to have that all done.

My husband has been taking Mondays and Wednesdays off to be with the kids so he didn’t take any days off over the break. He says usually things are slower and he gets more done during the weeks of Christmas and New Years, so he kind of likes working those days (he does get the Fridays off). Since we’re not going anywhere and we may need the time later in the year when I have to start teaching kids on campus, we decided he shouldn’t burn those days now.

The one thing to look forward to this break is that we may let our kids spend the night with my parents for the last weekend. If we start today we can do two full weeks of strict quarantine before then. Usually my son is at his learning pod or my daughter is at running or something else is happening that makes a two week quarantine all but impossible. This is probably the only time we can pull it off until the summer, so we’re going to try to make it happen. My parents will also quarantine strictly and then the first Friday and Saturday night of the new year my kids might be able to sleep at their house. This is more for my parents than my kids, but I think it would be amazing for all of us. I hope it works out – and yes I know others are not seeing anyone outside their households, but others are straight up traveling (so many of my students are going to Hawaii! And the Bahamas!), and I think the kids spending the night at my parents, who live nearby, after two weeks of strict quarantining is a manageable compromise, especially when this is our only chance to do it for the next six months).

How is everyone? Will you get much of a break during the “break”?