Recipe for Spring Break Sanity
April 8, 2008
Another writer I know recently asked how to survive Spring Break with the kids home from school. First I have a guilty confession to make. I kind of look forward to the days when my older son is home from school. But that’s a whole ‘nother post! Here’s my recipe for Spring Break Sanity:
- Take a deep breath. You can do this!
- If it’s not physically dangerous to be outside (i.e. severe
thunderstorms, blizzard, wind chill below zero, or a heat advisory)
kick the kids outside for a minimum of 1 hour. If it’s raining,
fine. A little water and mud never hurt anyone (although it will do
a number to that freshly mopped floor….sorry!). You stay inside
(where you can see them, of course!) and pour yourself a cup of
coffee/tea/soda/water or whatever spells comfort in your world. - Brainstorm 5 article ideas and research markets for them
while you’re waiting for editors to get out of
meetings and call you back. - When the kids get back inside, escort them to the shower -
odds are they’re going to need it, even if the weather’s fine! - When they’re clean, feed them. That always buys me at
least a 1/2 hour of sanity. Use this 30 minutes or so to come up
with an obscure task or project for them to do. I like scavenger
hunts for things that don’t actually exist
- After lunch, send them on their quest or sit them down for a
project. Free art time is good too - dump a bunch of random stuff on
the table, provide scissors, glue, and construction paper and see
what happens. - Chore time!
- After they’ve worked so diligently, reward them with an hour
of TV or computer games or whatever activity Dr. Sears would probably
frown upon.
Congratulations, by now it should be mid- to late- afternoon and you’re practically done with the day!
Posted by Tricia @ 10:44 am in Uncategorized
