First Day of Break!
Well, for one of my kids, anyway. This has proven to be the challenge with 2 kids in different schools. Their breaks are not the same. Not even Christmas break! I’ve put a positive spin on this…quality time with EACH kid, right? Sure! So idyllic and perfect. Why shouldn’t that happen? Well,Emma started first. Today was her first day off. We went to the gym to work out with Brandon at Premier Fitness Systems. She likes working out with me, and it’s pretty cute to watch. We came home, and she went right up to her room and…wait for it…got into her pajamas. Oh, and also trashed her room (I’m using the word “trashed” lightly). It was fine. We had a few hours to chill at home, and the girl wanted her space. I got a bunch of chores done that had run over from Sunday when no one was home all. day. long. Oops.
Well, 2:30 rolls around and I start talking to Emma about cleaning her room up and getting changed back into her clothes. It’s gymnastics day, you see. First go ’round she wouldn’t have any of it. I tried again. No luck. It came to a huge melt-down on her part…and tempers all around. Not fun. Not how I envisioned our first day of break. But Brett reminded me: it was her first day of break. We broke the routine of school. She was already thrown for a loop. It just ended the day on more of a sour note. I’m hoping the rest of the week runs smoothly. Tomorrow we have plans to see Chipwrecked with her BFF from school. Wednesday will bring us lunch with Daddy! And Thursday will give her special time with Oma. I’m hoping she’ll mellow out, or I’ll be wishing January 3rd to come quickly!
I’m not the only one who has this issue…I just know it! This wasn’t the first, of course, and definitely won’t be the last. And while it was pretty intense, it wasn’t the worst. Can I get an “Amen”?
Amen!
I remember my son’s SpEd teacher asking one year if we were ready for summer break. I frankly said, “No. I’m not ready to have him home all day.”
Now don’t get me wrong, I loved having him home with me all day before he went to school and was VERY apprehensive about sending him in Kinder and 1st. The truth was, when he was with me full-time, I felt I had a good feed/vibe on where he was developmentally and how to “read” him.
Once he was gone for part of the day, I didn’t know what was triggering some of the ‘bad’ stuff, ’cause I didn’t know what was going on with the rest of his time. I couldn’t guage whether he was over-tired or hungry, overstimulated or just ‘checked out’.
Plus, he was now dealing with two sets of expectations: school and home. And as we know, change isn’t easy for these kiddos.
I’m so impressed that you have something for her to look forward to each day (amid the rest of all the issues – the issues were always so overwhelming for me, I basically flew by the seat of my pants and just took it according to his mood in the moment).
Amen Sista!!! I am pinching pennies so I can send her to 1/2 day camp in August… Going to cost me a fortune in school fees $300 per week from 8:30 to 12(total of $1200) and to top it off then also pay a sitter for before and after school camp, I cannot go through another school break meltdown and it taking till October for her to get back in the groove and she only gets the month of August off thank goodness….. I so feel your pain
Marnee, it’s been 6 months since they’ve both been home and I forgot about that “transition time” already! Ugh! Just wait until you hear about TODAY tomorrow!! It will get better….ommmmmm……
Um, yeah, her transition period was WAY too long! I hope this August camp helps for next year.
A change in routine always makes for super grumpy kids in our house, too. But the WORST part is when they have to go back to doing schoolwork…eek!
Yeah. Transitions suck. Period! Good luck with yours!