Monday, September 26, 2011

holidays!!

What?

Really?

Homeschoolers don't have holidays, do they?


I've been asked that, more than a few times,
over the years.


Each time I say,

Yes, oh Yes, oh YES!

Or more calmly:

"We do, actually."


Today was the first day of our Spring holidays…

and it felt so good.


There was reading for a boy, in bed, 'til 10 am
while his sister and I ate pear porridge and talked and planned and dreamed…


There was a quick check-up at the homeopath for a boy

while a girl played on Webkinz

and a dad cleaned up the back AND front verandah
(thank you so much, mr beautiful)…


Then there was more reading for a boy (4th hour? 5th?)…

while a girl taught her mum how to make these beauties:


Aren't they just glorious?
(The friendly dragon in the back is mine. The one with danger in its eyes is my girl's)


Then there was a visit with friends who'd been overseas,
so while the kids played upstairs and downstairs,
downstairs and upstairs,
we two mums got to talk, laugh and smile for three whole hours. So lovely.


And gluten-free bread
was made and eaten hot


with organic apricot jam from Belgium
('cause that's how we roll, baby!)…


Then more reading by a boy (6th hour, 7th hour…? Could a day get any more blissful?)

while a girl and a mum finished up their dragon creations

(making and attaching wings, making a stand for them so they can look like they're flying…
Don't they look like they're flying? Don't you see the wind in their hair? Look at how happy they seem!





'Cept for the fierce one. He looks like he'd like to eat the cat)…




Then it was time for a home-made pad-thai dinner
created by dad (again, thank you)

and a family tv-watching session afterwards,
to watch Junior Master Chef
(because a kid on it is a student of my husband's and a friend of my sons. How exciting!)

My two non-tv-watching kids
gaped at all the ads
(Wow. There are so many! Why are there so many? Wow, here's more!)…

so we muted the tv in the ad breaks
and asked dad to make up all the voices.
Then we cried laughing.


At which point
it was time for showers,

and just a bit more reading (hmmmm, 8th hour, I think?)

and excited talk about tomorrow
while snuggling with kids in the dark…

because tomorrow I have an all-day date with my boy
(bike riding! pizza lunch! movie!)

and a dad has a date with his girl
(toy shops! lunch with dad! maybe a swim?).

Yum.

I love

these beautiful days,

these
regular, run-of-the-mill,

just the same as everyone else's (but not, of course),

holi-days.

Whether we're supposed to have them, or not.

:)




(ps.
we actually have many days like these in the un-holidays too. Just to be clear!

The only real difference between our holidays and unschool/lifelearning days is:
there's no music/art/writing class/organized event to go to every day.
There's almost nowhere we need to be, for two whole weeks!

And if you've been reading my last few posts you'll know—the break from "needing" to be somewhere comes at just the right time.

Ahh. That's me, breathing deeply. And smiling. And waving. Do you see me? I might be kind of small …some of you might need your binoculars :) )

12 comments:

  1. Sounds like a perfect day. Your words (as always) paint a glorious picture of family life. Although I have been absent as a writer in blogland for a while, I have enjoyed reading your posts.
    My poor Andy had weeks of lethargy post a viral illness, so I can strongly sympathise - it is a real call to slow down, breathe deeply and recuperate.

    And your need to not be scheduled - I am so with you on that one too. (It is just so difficult when you have curious, excitable, interested kids not to oversubscribe!)

    Do you think your cat and ours were identical twins, seperated at birth?!

    Enjoy your holidays!

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  2. This post just had me smiling from ear to ear all the way through!
    I love the dragons! My middle girlie is obsessed with dragons, we will have to try to have a go at these I think :)
    Enjoy the rest of your lovely break!

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  3. Thanks, Lou! I am sorry Andy has been sick—it sucks when you are just waiting, waiting to get your energy back. And yes, about the curious kids—they love so many things, and new adventures. (I wonder where they got that curiosity from? :) ). Our cats probably ARE twins—one just ended up in Sydney and the other in an RSPCA down here! Stranger things have happened… :)

    Thanks Suzy! I love that your middle girl loves dragons—just like both my kids. I took lots of photos of the process. My girl wants to write a guest post on "How to Make A Cardboard Dragon," so we'll see if we can do that soon. Then there can be wonderful home-made dragons to the North and dragons to the South…!

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  4. Lovely, lovely holidays! It's nice just to have a break from the "doing" isn't it? Did you make the dragons up or get the pattern from somewhere? They look cool :-) 8hrs of reading? I could enjoy that!

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  5. Well, I don't know about homeschoolers getting holidays, but apparently I am getting them this week. Woke up on Monday to my boys sleeping in and then just doing their own thing with their friend who had stayed over. Zak and this friend have not been parted since Saturday when they went to the Rookie launch for nippers. The poor boys have been separated for nearly 7 weeks and we did not have the heart to say NO. Tonight will be night 4 of sleepovers and the other mama and I had to have a private chat about tomorrow and finally separating them. LOL It is going to be hard! Oh but they are having so much fun! :-) I think I quite like these holidays! Only thing is in our usual fashion ours are going to go on for a little bit too long. We head of to QLD on the last day of the holidays! Woops! We are totally going to learn how to go on scary rides! Yes we are! Hugs and smoochies lovely! Hope you get in lots of rest and reading and writing and what ever else takes your fancy these holidays! Much love! xoxoxox

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  6. The universe has a way of giving us exactly what we need. Your holiday sounds blissful. Enjoy every minute of your nothingness. Savor every page turned, every hug given and every smile shared. We are so fortunate to live this life.

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  7. I love holidays too. I love how you and I are at completely different seasons, but still have so much in common. I love the dragon. Links please?? What a glorious day you just described. Your posts always make me want to slow down and savor everything.

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  8. I was looking at all that you did and thinking that it looks kind of like a regular school day, anyway for you guys! :) Glad you got a break from the lessons and classes, though!

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  9. We totally love the holidays too. And didn't they come right in time? It is so wonderful having days on end of Nothing Scheduled. (psst. Love the dragons too. Bring on the guest post by your girl please!)

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  10. Hi! I'm a first time reader, and I'm lovin' what I'm reading! Your family sounds so much like our, except of course we live in the US. I agree that days at home can be so delicious. We love, love, love being out and about, but it's so much fun to have a stretch of days just to be at home.

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  11. 'At ease' days are very important to me, as I'm sure you know! :) I'm so glad you're getting a handful of them!

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  12. Hooray for breaks and easy days! And I look forward to the paper dragon tutorial, my youngest loves dragons and my oldest just likes to build, so perfect! I hope you continue to savor all the slow but full moments friend!!! And thank you for the plug for international travel, I would come to Australia just to visit you!
    xxoo

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I love hearing from you! Thank you for your heartfelt, thoughtful responses—they lift me, and give me light.