School's Out: Bittersweet.

This starts our third week of school being out. I feel like this is one double-edged sword. There's good and bad to having everyone home. Really, I could never home-school because I would be pulling my hair out.

The Bitter:
Six kids. Home all day. Every day. With me. Alone. The fighting, the whining, the laziness.

So who cares if they don't get dressed until noon--if at all? Bedtimes are unfortunately more lax (which makes for a crazier mom). You'd think they would sleep in if they go to bed later, but they don't.

And forget 3 meals a day... it's 3 meals and continual snacking!

Constant boredom. If they can't play on the computer or watch television...there is "nothing to do!"

The dishes, the laundry, the toys and the trash pile up, while my sanity dwindles into nothingness. And, I do work to get my kids to help clean up their mess, but there are lots of threats uttered.

Going grocery shopping has also become a big process. With spirited, curious children, I am constantly trying to stop them from touching everything in the store, running off, or adding extra items to the shopping cart. If I manage to purchase most of what I came for, I guess I'm doing pretty well. More often then not, I forget at least one item we needed.

My two youngest kids have been on a tantrum run...which is sometimes quite humorous. This is our latest that I recorded, instead of losing my cool:

The Sweet:
I don't have to prod my kids out of bed every morning, prod them to get dressed by a certain time, prod them to get their homework done...

The last month of school was agonizing. I think my "work-minded" self is completely done with homework by the time May rolls around. One of my kids had "parent partner" assignments which basically meant I had homework beyond just making sure it got done/checking it. And it was a hard assignment--research, reports, staying in a budget and making a brochure--in 4th grade! I have four kids currently in school, so to take the astronomical amount of time it takes to do that homework along with making sure everyone else got theirs done, and get to all of the end of the year programs, and still cook dinner... well... let's just say miracles are real.

I really don't mind having our days free to do what we want when we want to. It's a nice break from the normal schedules. I also like to spend time with my kiddos--especially when we're not in the middle of some sort of catastrophic meltdown. We love to do fun things together, and summer break allows for that freedom.

School is out for about 2 1/2 months. We will fill our days with going to the park, doing our local library summer reading program, taking trips--both day and overnight, and just trying to enjoy not having school and getting to spend time together.

And, of course, luckily I'll have some Dr. Pepper to help get me through it all. :) Hang in there, Moms!! I'm always glad to know that I am not the only one who does not love summer break 100%. I don't think it makes me a bad mom to need/want a break from my kids either. I think we just do what we need to do and only do what we can. I have learned to not become overly frustrated by all of the things that I think I should be doing, or by all of the amazing things I see other moms do that I do not do. I take care of my kids--feed them, clothe them and love them. It's the best I can do. Different days are packed with different battles, but we can make it through--one day at a time. If nothing else, there's always bedtime, and we can move it up an hour. ;)

© Wendy 2013