Spring Break

Spring break is coming to an end… so sad. Spring break really has to be one of my favourite holidays.

We get rain in the winter. Lots of rain. Days and days of rain. January and February can be really dull, and homeschooling can have its slow moments. Moments when you feel you’re really not creative at all – and you really don’t feel like getting up and cracking the books anymore than the kids do. And you really just want to curl up in bed when the alarm goes off at six o’clock instead of getting up for your morning walk….

And then spring break comes. And yes, the rain doesn’t miraculously disappear, but there are sunny days. And those days are longer. And the trees outside your front window are starting to blossom. And you feel like getting things done.

Truthfully I had a very long to do list that I was going to tackle spring break. Very long. And honestly, I really didn’t get many things done on it. At all. (I did, however, clean off my office desk. I really was planning to have it stay that way too – for at least more than a couple of hours. However… the best laid plans, and all that…)

Here’s what I did do, though. I went hiking with my family.  We went across a suspension bridge, and hiked down to the bottom. We splashed around in the river, and managed to come home with a couple of soaked feet. We went to the ocean together with our family. We checked out the starfishes clinging to the pier, listened to the barnacles on the seashore (they really do make noise!) and turned over rocks and found tiny little crabs. We wrote messages in the wet sand. We had ice cream at one of the little shops on the beach. (As a side note: you know you have a big family when the grandfatherly man ringing up your ice cream tells you the total and then says, “Ouch.  That hurts, doesn’t it?!”) We introduced our kids to sushi.  My girls and I went Value Village shopping. Cute clothes, without breaking the bank. My kind of shopping!

And all those things were so much better than my original plans. My to do list can wait. Spring break was fun, and life is good.

So next week, reality is going to set in. I’m going to have to get up at the crack of dawn (sort of) for my walks. My days will feel like a whirlwind again as I teach, keep my house clean, make meals, do laundry, work…

But I’m ready for it. I really didn’t get the planning done that I thought I would, but that’s okay. Learning will happen and we’ll all be ready to go again. We may even be able to do some schooling outdoors in the sunshine. Really, does it get any better than that?

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My Goalie Son

Yesterday, my middle son played goalie for his team for the first time.  He’s been asking if he could play goalie for quite some time, and yesterday, he got a call from his coach asking if he would.

His face beamed.  There was no need to ask if he wanted to or not.  He immediately found a phone, dialed his best friend, and both sets of grandparents.  Everyone had to know about this momentous occasion. (And come to watch, if they could make it!)

So he got to be goalie.  He was so excited, I don’t think he stopped grinning the whole time.

As a mom, I wasn’t quite so excited.  It’s stressful sitting there in the stands watching pucks get shot at your son, knowing you can’t help in any way. He looks so small out there on the ice too; he barely reaches the top of the net!   And while the puck has to get through a lot of players before it gets to him, still, the goalie’s the last stop.  The responsibility rests with him.

When our team went ahead 2 – 0, I started to relax.  It really was a fun game to watch.  And in the end, our team won, 7 – 2.  He made some good saves!

And when he walked off the ice?  He was still beaming.  Sweaty, hot, and tired, but happy.  “Being goalie is way more fun than being player, Mom!” he told me.

Hmmm… maybe I should have hoped for a more difficult game?!

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