spring break, you almost bested me.

when i realized that last week was going to be spring break, i was honestly excited.  the thought of having no schedule, just relaxing with the kids and taking it easy sounded fabulous. 

i was thinking of pre-kindergarten days where we could play games, and go to parks and not have to worry about working it into school-and naps-and-homework times.

however, something happened this week that i have only gotten glimpses of in the pre-spring break, late afternoon of school days.

my kids

love to

FIGHT.

i'm not talking about all out swinging and punching....though if leah had her way and caleb were more prone to violence, it could easily turn out like that.

i'm talking about the constant yelling back and forth, leah taking caleb's toys/pillow/pen/whatever he had in his hands, then caleb freaking out and losing his mind about the unfairness of life and how this next baby in my belly had better be a boy because he does not want another little sister.

i realized how completely unprepared i was for this new development between my kids.  not that their fighting was unusual....but it was more the constant, extended period of fighting that turned old at about 11 a.m. on monday morning, spring break day 1.

i should have known.  i should have planned things to fill their time like most moms do.  creative art projects and time-consuming activities.  

but, i didn't. 

so i dug deep into the archives of the "what in the heck are we going to do today?" part of my brain, and finally thought of an idea.

we brought caleb's tent downstairs, got snacks and turned on a movie.

ahhhhh. 

peace and quiet.

for about 20 minutes.

then it turned into,

"mom! leah's kicking me!"

and 

"caycub brudder, STOP IT!"

shriek.

scream.

squawk.

i almost started ripping out pieces of my hair.

so for spring break, i found myself desperately trying to scrounge up plans each day.  and that desperation brought me to doing things that i usually never do.  see, i'm a "schedule" type of mom.  i know, i know.  my poor children.  but in order to survive this pregnancy without seriously falling apart, the schedule has saved me.  lunch at this time, naps/quiet time at this time, dinner at this time, bedtime at this time.  not only do i find myself relying on this schedule, but i've found that when i get even 15 minutes past what is normally dinnertime, the kids start whining and asking for snacks, and getting on each other's nerves.  

anyway, during spring break and out of desperation to keep my kids from driving their mom insane, we went off the schedule.

we went swimming 15 minutes before the normally-scheduled dinnertime in ice cold water.  then to a park, and then home for baths and dinner.  yes the kids were exhausted by the time they went to bed, and so was i.

we went to an aquarium with friends, leaving right before leah's naptime to start the adventure of weaving in and out of spring break crowds.

 

 {leah riding the carousel, in her sugar-crashing-sleep-deprived stare}

we went a couple of hours past the point of no return for leah and yes, she had a total meltdown as we were leaving and on the way home.  and then she woke up in the most awful mood from her shortened nap.

caleb was allowed to skip quiet times or come out early in order to play with his friend who lives two doors down.  and yes, that meant i had to skip my normal rest-time in order for him to do this....which i know doesn't sound like a big deal to others, but that rest time is sacred to me.

but,

we made it.

and we actually had fun.

the kids were generally more happy than just stuck at home and on our schedules, which meant that we were all more happy.  so i learned to be a bit more spontaneous, and to let go of our precious schedules a little.

however.

this gave me a teeny taste of summer break.  when i will be as round as a blueberry, much like this:

and exhausted, and my kids will be bored and full of unexpressed energy.  for more than just a week.

holy toledo, i'm going to have to come up with a serious plan.