It's spring break here in beautiful, budding Franklin, Tennessee, which means that nearly all of our county is in the Destin, Florida, area at this moment. And those who aren't are staycationing at any child-friendly locale in the city. Who knew that Chuck E. Cheese was our answer to the beach?
So the kids get a break. And we moms, well, we don't so much get a break. But those of us who are staycationing (translation: too cheap to travel, which is completely understandable at $3.50 a gallon) have a challenge on our hands. What to do with our time?
I picked up a copy of Family Fun magazine yesterday which immediately gave me a complex. I realized that my children were missing out on the good things in life because we were not making marionettes out of construction paper or cookies shaped like flip flops using sour gummies.
Will they be in therapy one day? Or should I just maintain my viewpoint that Family Fun magazine is of the devil? Get thee behind me, Family Fun magazine. Kids--go outside and play with sticks and dirt like mommy used to do when she was little. If you really want Family Fun, I'll add water to the sticks and dirt. Pa Ingalls built an entire house this way out on the prairie--surely it should keep you entertained for an afternoon!
Spring Break is like a test drive for summer. To abruptly mix metaphors, we're putting our toes in the water, and while it feels good, we moms may not quite be ready for a swim just yet. There's just so much pressure for kids to be doing something. Going to space camp. Learning to ride sidesaddle. Becoming an Olympic gymnast.
And if they're off doing something, then we have to be doing something, too. We covet this free time sans children so that we can "get things done." Ewww. Now that sounds like fun, doesn't it?
So this Spring Break, we're dipping our toes in the pond of the art of doing nothing. Ahhhhh. See how nice and lukewarm that feels? So relaxing. We are otherwise doing what is known as Wasting Time. I capitalize those words because I feel they are Very Important (see how that works?).
Even if we weren't so cheap that we were staycationing, we'd be somewhere like Disney World (which our family adores), stressing ourselves out over getting to the park early enough to stand in line for an hour for It's a Small World. No one should ever stand in line an hour for It's A Small World.
Our brains are pushed to the limit with all the stuff we want to be doing, that we think we need to be doing. Sit down on the couch for 15 minutes and you feel guilty, don't you? You are wasting valuable time-wasting-time by thinking about all the laundry you should be doing or the bathrooms waiting to be cleaned.
Shirk those duties, I say! Sit, and sit in peace. Enjoy the moment. You have now been given permission to waste time, which is really all anyone's looking for.
It's called Spring BREAK. Use it. Because come mid-July, when everyone's desperate, you'll be digging out those marionette instructions and seeing if there are any last minute slots still open at sidesaddle camp.
