by Tara Shafer posted in Parenting

This year I am spending spring break at home with the kids. As a result of awkward schedules, a slightly light wallet, a list of looming home repairs, and a general lack of organization, we are home.
We are holed up at home in the dregs of winter. Unfulfilled promises of spring cut no ice with me at the moment. It is raw and cold, and we just had a series of March storms that brought even the heartiest people to their knees.
It's not so easy to spend another week inside with children when it's been going on for months already. I say I like living with four seasons but if there were some way to cancel March, the worst month of all, I'd be all over it.
That said, a spring break at home does have an upside. My work schedule is flexible and I'm extremely aware of fleeting childhoods. Because I'm intensely aware of time passing, I do the best I can to dig deeper. My daughter arranges Peeps outside with a note for the fairies wishing them a Happy Easter. Activities are mostly canceled this week. We are a family used to tearing around and turning on a dime everywhere we go. It's kind of nice to spend some time not rushing and also just relaxing. We have had a delightful time switching the news out for a Little House on The Prairie binge. Ah, Walnut Grove.

We have had a little time to consider the things we have and don't need. As in the things we could donate. My librarian friends are collecting books for kids who might like them over the sum...