Staycation, All I’ve Ever Wanted?

Somebody tell me where the time went. Somebody make sense of me sitting here, typing furiously away on a Friday, in the precious quiet of the day, as the clock ticks down to my family’s destiny—

Dun dun DUN!

SPRING BREAK!

That’s right, nine whole days with my darling little daughters. But this year, we aren’t going away for a family vacay. No, no—Staycation Central is our final destination.

When did spring break become a thing, anyway? I mean, it has been for as long as I remember—we always had a week off around Easter in the public schools which I attended growing up. But that week off usually meant my brother and me lounging around in our PJs while our parents were at work, eating bologna sandwiches, watching The Brady Bunch reruns punctuated by Dean Richards’ voice telling us, “That old car’s worth money” and a passive, definitely non-threatening commercial urging us to call today for our free Book of Mormon. (Which I did do. When the mail came, I hid the thing in my room and never looked at it again. But it was free, just like they said!)

We weren’t road-tripping it to Florida, or roughing it in our northern cabin, or jetting off to Mexico. (Okay, once we did that. When I was in high school and taking Spanish I language class, I begged my parents. It was completely out of the norm.) When we were kids, during elementary and junior high school, it was Boring City as the earth thawed around us.

This is partially because a few times my parents took us out of school earlier in the year, around winter break, to Thailand to see family. Those trips weren’t cheap, and come spring break, they had to keep working to probably pay off those trips. Even on the years we didn’t go, they were probably either saving up or paying off something.

But I don’t really remember my friends taking trips, either. I don’t remember conversations like, “Where are you going for spring break?” Not like what I’m seeing now. Other moms inquiring it of each other during pick-up. Kids texting each other to ask. Whole swaths of streets empty, late March to mid-April, except for the pet sitters and lawn services coming by to maintain order.

The past couple years, my family has taken spring break trips. When the kids entered school, we quickly realized that once the snow started to melt and wanderlust set in, we wouldn’t have another chance to get away until summer. We visited my sister-in-law when she lived in North Carolina, stopping in Asheville along the way. After the pandemic kept us home for such a long time, we flew to California and took the kids to Disneyland, plus visited friends we dearly missed. Last year we visited my Thai family in Atlanta and then made our way to a bucket list place of mine, Savannah and Tybee Island. Those were wonderful family moments.

This year, to conserve my husband’s PTO and because we have some adventures in store down the road (more on that later!), we aren’t going anywhere for spring break. That means a chance to do some things we’ve wanted to do locally, like roller skating and checking out the American Girl store on the Magnificent Mile!

A few friends are staying back this year, too, which hopefully means we’ll get a chance to socialize. But what about all the other hours? The hours when our charming offspring are bickering, or constantly singing in that “Indie girl voice”-style that really grinds my gears, or loudly protesting (while their messy rooms lie abandoned): “I’m bored!”???

That’s when you’ll find me hiding under my desk. My husband’s lucky; he’ll be concealed down in the basement, hard at work. Maybe I will just dart off, roadrunner-like, leaving a cloud of dirt behind me. Where will I go? The library. It’s quiet in the library. Or maybe a convent? I played a nun once in The Sound of Music. Or a Buddhist temple! I’ve been meaning to get more in touch with my meditative side!

Just kidding, I’ll be right here. Not reading, writing, or working peacefully. Just picking up after them and taking in the cacophony of two girls whom I’m grateful to have with me, home or away. If you get close enough, you’ll hear me chanting, “Someday they’re going to move out and you’ll miss this. Someday…”

Happy spring break, everyone! What are your plans?