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 :) )