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Winter Break: Mom flips her lid
My kids’ school has an odd creature called “Winter Break.”
It falls a bit after Holiday Break and a bit before Spring Break. I’ve never heard a clear explanation of why this entity exists, so I’m left to extrapolate the reasoning behind it.
I’m pretty sure Winter Break is all about name-dropping. “Where are you spending break?” is a hot topic among the Vera Bradley-on-the-schoolyard set. Many moms bandy about names of (I’m sure) trendy getaway spots that I’ve never even heard of. Instead of Aspen, Orlando or Maui (all of which I can find on a map), they often reply in a happy little chirp, “Sansou,” “Jezzair” or “Talos.” Of course. “Don’t you know the area? (Poor thing.) We were there just last spring. It’s FABULOUS and the kids ADORE it!”
Do I sound classist? I don’t mean to. It’s mostly just jealousy talking, because we usually spend the week at home stuck in the snowbanks of Ohio.
And we mostly enjoy our slow-paced time together. This time, we cleaned a closet (one down, eight to go), changed sheets (which I hate to do by myself), visited the Boonshoft, did some Christmas shopping (!), entertained weekend guests, played with the guinea pig, decided on science fair projects. I spent lovely, lazy days with the kids then harumphed off to work in the evenings.
But, boy, I could have used a break at some tropical locale today. Since that wasn’t on my itinerary, the kids all had to endure the wrath of my usual Thursday meltdown, which comes on the downswing of an exhausting workweek on the night shift.
When it’s just Baby and me, and my stockpile of patience runs low, we simply collapse for an early nap and sleep away the stress. But it’s not so easy when there are three kids bickering, begging for snacks, vying for Mom’s attention.
At about 11 in the morning, I felt my blood pressure rising and tried to warn the kids that I was very tired and needed to get some rest. Then cabin fever struck. There was an argument about who would mind Little Brother. “It’s YOUR turn to play with him!” “I watched him first the LAST time!”
Blammo. I reached my breaking point, and a crazy-mom screaming fit ensued. (I hate when I let that happen.) In my cool-down mode, I tore into the housework. I must have set the right tone because Big Brother immediately took Little Bro to the Play-Doh table and Sister grabbed a broom and the dustpan and joined me.
That big glob of guilt earned me the nap I needed. Afterward, we had apologies, a nice family snuggle, a giggle-fest and reading time. I’ve said it before: Thank God kids are so forgiving!
We parents try our dangedest to keep it all together, but sometimes the pressure gets the best of us. Here’s wishing for warmer weather and lots of outdoor time for Spring Break!
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