REAL life starts again tomorrow. Oh, yes, the kids are going back to school!

Yes, my dad let my three-year-old drive his wheelchair. But boy, did he have fun!

We just finished the longest Christmas vacation ever. 3 weeks!!! Full weeks!! It was a blast.  It was genuinely fun because we didn’t spend the whole 3 weeks in any one place. We went south, then we went north, then we went home, then we went back south, then back home. We had a good time with it!

We watched pretty much every Christmas movie ever made.

And we were terrible.

Truly terrible.

We let the kids stay up as late as 10 some nights. I know. The shame! Other nights we put them to bed at 8, but there was one night we were at a big reunion party. It was an hour and a half from home, and by the time we got home and got the boys all in bed, it was after midnight!

I know!!! We are never this shocking. We are such boring people normally.

Some people skip stones…..we chunk boulders. (Don’t worry. Only into the water, and no one got hurt.)

I don’t think I got out of bed before 7:30am a single morning.

Discipline? I would say we were the opposite of disciplined…

We took the kids to two different movies. We let the boys sleep as late as they wanted, and for some of them that was actually until 8 or 8:30am!!

A disproportionate amount of corn dogs, candy canes, and chicken fingers was consumed.

JD has about quit napping completely.

The boys played so much Skylanders they’ve already beaten the new game twice.

 

decorating the Christmas tree cookie cake

We built Lego creations, we colored, we ate ice cream, we played with cousins and friends. We got spoiled by grandparents. We completely forgot about reality.

I kept saying things like, “Tomorrow we HAVE to get back on schedule. Tomorrow we’ll all go to bed at 8, and I’ll set alarms and get up at 6….”

Never happened. Never.

Dan and I found this centipede(?) on a walk. I’m not a bug expert. Centipede was my best guess.

And so tonight we didn’t even bother to put everyone to bed until 9 or 9:30. I made coffee and did the dishes. You will be happy to know that we did actually make them shower.

Alan is furiously re-immersing himself in work emails. He took a ton of time off too.

I laid out my clothes but totally forgot to lay out THE BOYS’ clothes. Who knows if we’ll be able to find anyone’s shoes or belts tomorrow.

I set my alarm for 5:30am…..but you know I’m the worst EVER at getting up when my alarm goes off. I set my alarm, and Alan actually laughed. Sigh.

I’m scared y’all. I think we actually had too much fun on our break. I don’t think we can go back to real life. I’m afraid no one will be able to wake up tomorrow morning!!!

I don’t think this is an irrational fear.

We played Star Wars. Ha! Just kidding. THEY played Star Wars. I’m not that cool.

Why does real life have to be so very very real and strict and work-like???

Ah, but it does. You can’t train children for the world without upholding standards in their childhood. You can’t expect them to go to college if you don’t first teach them elementary math. And have you seen elementary math??? It’s not all that easy!

Tomorrow is the big day! Are you ready?? Were any of you as big of slackers as we were??? Tell me we are not alone!!!

Well, if you were, we would like to wish you all the best of luck. I’m sure everyone’s shoes will be clean, dry, and easily found. Everyone will be on time, and no one will cry. Well, maybe me at 5:30am. I might cry. I’m just not so sure I “got this”!!!

Okay. Deep breaths. We’ll be fine. What’s a good verse we can recite to ourselves?? Oh yeah.

Joshua 1:9

 

Have not I commanded you? Be strong and of good courage. Be not afraid neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Gotta go. The Benadryl I took to make myself go to sleep earlier is finally starting to kick in…

 


aprilmomoffour

April is an upbeat, Christian, blog-obsessed, military wife, and home schooling mom of four little boys. She writes about education, travel, and humorous adventures in parenting. Follow along if you’d like a little bit of encouragement and a whole lot of crazy.

View Comments

  • 10? No! Um, don't ask how late my kids were up.... That first day of school, 6 am came very early. I am so glad we are now back to school and can try to restore some schedule sanity around here!

    Happy 2017! Hope it's a great one :)

    • Ha! I knew my people would be with me. So how's that schedule sanity working out, Jen? hahaha There is no sanity with 4 kids, is there?

  • Hi April, you have officially just had the Christmas break that memories are made of! How lovely that routine went out the window, sometimes that's not a bad thing. The Christmas break is my favourite, we don't go anywhere special, but enjoy time together doing nothing much, eating badly, staying up late, staying in our PJ's. It's the only time of the year it really happens.

    I'm normally an early bird and am alert and awake by six without an alarm. Over the holidays I was sleeping until 7.30 and yesterday when the alarm went off at 6.30, (I didn't know my arse from my elbow). Luckily my daughter my daughter is 17 and I just get up to make her porridge, because I'm Mum.

    I hope the early mornings get easier for you and your routine falls back into place.

    xx

    • I know. It really was too good to be true, or too good to last anyway. Thank you! I hope the early mornings get easier for me too. :)

  • I can’t imagine how happy you are to get back to your routine. Three weeks is a long Christmas Vacation; I’m sure the boys loved every minute of it. I would love to see some of your Lego creations :)

    • Well, the grass is always greener on the other side. I wish it were still Christmas vacation. Ha!

  • It sounds like you guys had an amazing vacation! Sometimes just forgetting the schedule is a nice break from reality. Getting back to the daily grind will be tough at first but before you know it you will be back in the swing of things!

  • We were so bad too! Des stayed up SO LATE! Scarlet stayed up until midnight on New Year's and she's SEVEN, but that's another story.
    Oh man - the sleeping. The food. The not working.
    (I miss it)

  • We also had three weeks of vacation - and things were completely the same as in your household :)

    • I knew I wasn't the only one! hehe Hope the return to real life goes/went well!!!

Recent Posts

Tips for Talking to an Anxious Teenager

Today I have a mental health expert here to help us with talking to our…

4 days ago

6 Important Considerations for Homeschooling

Today I have a guest post for you on the topic of important considerations for…

2 weeks ago

Last Chance to See the Cherry Blossoms in D.C. Before Major Tidal Basin Reconstruction

Did you know 2024 year is an important year for the D.C. Cherry Blossom Festival?…

1 month ago

Exploring Our Family History in Tannehill State Park: A Beautiful Place to Take Your Family

Last year my cousin Amber sent me a VHS video clip of an interview she…

1 month ago

Traveling by Train from Naples to Sigonella Navy Base (in Sicily)

On the last day before our flight out of Italy, Alan and I needed to…

2 months ago

How to Build a Career as a Fire Rescue Officer

Today I have an expert guest post from the field of fire rescue! He is…

2 months ago