Vacation, all I ever wanted...

Ahhhh...February Break. The long awaited week off from school that we teachers need more than students do (in my humble opinion) and that seems light years away during those long, dark days immediately upon returning from Christmas Break.

In early January, while prepping lessons, I fantasized about February break and how I would fill it up with absolutely nothing.

Towards the end of January, I could be found during most of my lunch periods Googling, "How To Sell Your Soul In Exchange For The Speeding Up Of Time."

As February blew in, I sat at my computer doing late night paperwork and dreaming of a whole week of not being enslaved to what looks like the triage board at an ER but is really our "Family Calendar". I weighed the advantages of not getting out of my jammies from one Saturday straight through to the next Saturday.

It FINALLY arrived. The day before vacation (a.k.a. Dooms Day in a middle school) came and went and upon the 3:30 dismissal there just might have been a flash mob to "Celebrate Good Times" in the faculty parking lot in the back of the school.

GIANT EXHALE. I made it. I drove home with great anticipation of running through the front door of our house and yelling, "IT'S FEBRUARY BREAK - LET'S ALL HURRY UP AND DO NOTHING!"

And then I remembered that I have two kids.

And then I was reminded that they have their own ideas for school vacation.

And then I was presented with...the...(feel free to insert a giant GASP! here for effect)...VACATION SCHEDULE.

And then a little piece inside of me died.

Here it is in it's rough, original form, as shown to me before I had even taken my coat off:

And here it is, 1 day into "vacation", presented in multiple forms, typed AND handwritten, AND with an attached map. Believe it or not, this is AFTER the "Remember kids, we need to be flexible, everyone has their own ideas for how we should spend this week off from school" talk (READ: Remember kids, your mom was hoping for a week of existing JUST ABOVE a coma.)

A bigger piece inside of me died.

I am trying to look at the bright side. They are focused kids, even when it comes to having fun. They like structure, even on vacation. They are organized, even with other people's time. They are never at a loss of things to do. They created and negotiated this together. They love 2nd grade and Kindergarten and see February Break as a week to fill with fun before they get to go back to school.

I sure am one lucky girl. L-U-C-K-Y lucky.

And to think, left to my own devices I would have wasted a whole week in my jammies.