Curse You, Spring Break!!

Just when I was beginning to fall into a routine, Spring Break had to throw a monkey wrench into my plans.

Never mind that we recently moved. Or that my husband recently took on a "real" job on top of having the business. No, now I have to try and find a way to keep my son entertained for an entire week, without the welcome release of him running around with 19 others of his kind for 3 hours a day.

What am I going to do to keep him occupied for the next week? How will I prevent him from tormenting his little sister and causing mental damage? And even more, how will I prevent him from tormenting ME and causing ME mental damage?

I have tried to prepare myself. I bought PlayDoh. I bought Silly Putty. I bought more crayons. I even bought him a new bike. The question remains - will it be enough?

The first day went ok, but only because I didn't play fair. I took the kids on a little shopping trip. Lots of driving = sleepy kids. The funny part about the whole day was the fact that the hit of the day was 2 flyswatters that I picked up at IKEA for $1. Who knew that you could play "Indoor Bug Swatter Hockey" and keep a 4 year old and an almost 2 year old entertained for several hours?

Please don’t get the wrong impression. I love seeing my son and he is not a bad kid. In fact, he won a character award for last quarter (and yes that IS a shameless brag for him!). It's just that when you mess up both his routine and mine, there is no telling what will happen. The sad part is that I think I have more trouble with the routine change than he does.

I tried to get some work done while he was having "quiet time" but it didn’t happen because his sister woke up after sleeping for 20 minutes. 20 minutes? This never happens. Oh, wait. This never happens unless I need her to sleep for some reason.

When we went to the grocery store to stock up for the week, my husband made sure I had the necessary supplies as well. When he went to restock my Pepsi supply, he quickly grabbed 2 boxes, stating that "I was in for a long week." While on the surface this seems thoughtful and sweet, let me mention that he is going out of town with his two best friends and leaving me with the kids for 4 nights straight. And he's going to Vegas. Talk about adding insult to injury.

It also makes me wonder what on Earth I am going to do this summer? Can you send 4 year olds to summer camp? If so, will they take toddler siblings? My babysitter, if she weren't so darn busy already, could make soooo much money off of me it's not even funny. I could probably single handedly put her through college - but then I wouldn't have the fun of juggling the no nap days with the ones where my son is a spark waiting to be discharged.

Obviously, the person who came up with the brilliant idea for Spring Break did not have any kids. Or maybe it goes back to the curse parents always put on their kids (the one where they say "One day, when you have kids, I hope they "). Whatever the case, it goes to show that you can have too much of a good thing.