Spring Break Time!

A great many of my friends dream in shades of pumpkin spice. There’s nothing they adore more than cozy cardigans layered on sweaters on leggings.

I’m not one of those people. I spend five months out of the year shivering. By night, I burrow under a mound of blanket layers, and each morning, I drag myself grudgingly out of bed with dried-out sinuses and a vaguely sore throat to hide my pasty flesh under an ocean of shapeless clothing. The world is soggy, cold, dark, and dreary, and all I can think about is getting back to warmer weather and longer days.

And then, like magic, the clocks move forward and we’re on our way back to the best time of year–the time of bare feet on soft grass, lattes on ice, long days in the sun, free outdoor concerts, festivals, barbecues, campouts, and splash pads.

Next week, most families will kick off the season with spring break, or as I like to call it, Practice Summer. For one week, our kids will either be all up in our grills or zombied out on electronic devices.

Now I know some of y’all are naturally organized and your kids wake up at a reasonable hour, get themselves dressed, and are ready to participate in the world as functional members of kid society. In our family, however, if I don’t plan ahead for some kind of structure, my kids end up sleeping in until 11 every day, everyone looks like they crawled out of a garbage can, they spend the day glued to devices, and then we’re all up until 2 in the morning binging some TV show we’ve already seen like four times.

So because I know how our family works and I’m not looking forward to wallowing in admittedly two of my favorite seven deadly sins, I’ve put together a list of some ideas to keep everyone occupied this week. I’ll report back next week with pics to let you know how it goes!

1. Try Out Some YouTube Makeup Tutorials

It’s no secret to anyone who’s seen any of my Instagram posts that I super suck at makeup. We’re going to use YouTube tutorials and try our hand at some funky makeup looks. It should be as ridiculous as it sounds.

2. Teach the Kids Some Cooking Lessons

It doesn’t matter if your kids are four or 14, there’s never a bad age to start teaching them how to cook. Justin is actually the chef in our family, and while I can competently bake a casserole or cookies, I’m not to be trusted with any intermediate cooking skills. In an age where increasingly more young adults don’t know how to scramble eggs, cooking is a fundamental skill to teach your kids. That’s why I’m going to teach each of my children a cooking lesson over spring break.

3. Put on Tulsa Fashion Week

Lucy loves to play dress-up, and tbh so do I. That’s why we’re going to shop our closets and maybe even a thrift store or two and then have a virtual runway show on Instagram.

4. Create Five Days of Art

It might seem like a lofty goal, but we’re going to try to create something magical every day of spring break. Art doesn’t have to be complicated or fancy. It only has to give your mind a chance to think in a new and imaginative way. We’re going to turn to Pinterest for ideas and share our crafts with you next week.

5. Set Aside Reading Time

Reading time is about more than just flexing your brain muscles. It’s a quiet time to set yourself apart from everyone else and stay immersed in your own thoughts. It’s a great idea to set aside at least half an hour for everyone to read quietly over break.

6. Dine al Fresco

It’s going to be a beautiful, pleasant week. With a blanket, some sandwiches, and a little radio, lunch in your own backyard could be a magical experience.

I’ll share pics of our adventures next week in my blog and on Instagram this week.

What are your plans for spring break? How do you plan on keeping your kids busy without losing your own sanity? Leave me a comment and share your ideas, and have a beautiful week!