Spring Break 2020, have you taken yours yet? Today marks the end of our first week of spring break. Notice I said first week. We are doing something unprecedented here at Lighthouse Christian Academy and probably taking more than one week off for spring break. Who else has been needing a break from your Coronavirus imposed staycation? 🙋♀️ Anyone? Just me? Okay then.
As an ambivert the staying home doesn’t bother me very much at first, but the lack of being able to get out and get things we want or need grates on the nerves after a bit. Our home life isn’t incredibly different since we homeschool, but doing teleconference for things like Taekwondo classes (even though they are doing a great job doing it) and shopping always via the computer…and then being out of the items you need….well it’s the pits.
The realities
I know some of you out there probably have your kids in activities that can’t be replicated via video conference. Others may be used to going to a weekly co-op. We have made intentional decisions not to have Stephen in more than one activity at a time. We don’t like being ‘on the go’ all the time. Some people have multiple kids are on the go due to every kid being in at least one activity. Some parents make the choice to be on the go all the time and thrive on it.
We had a really bad week last week personally that ended in getting very upsetting news that our realtor, who was more like a friend, had unexpectedly (to us) passed away. He had wanted to keep the battle he was facing private so it came as a shock to most people. Within 24 hours, the post his wife put on his page had over 500 comments. He lived life to its fullest and was well loved.
That news capped off a week of discouragement that only tangentially involved the Coronavirus. At that point I looked at myself in the mirror and stopped trying to be Wonder Woman and said I need a break. We were set to have our spring break in the middle of this month during the Great Homeschool Convention like we do every year. Of course this year the convention has been cancelled and is an online only event. There was no need to wait until the pre-planned 2020 spring break to take spring break.
Give yourself permission to let go
So I sit here trying to decide if we’re going to take another week off or not. We’re so far ahead on most subjects that several of our courses are already complete. We’re actually in the middle of a second year of spelling! Since we homeschool through most of the summer, the rest will still be done well before our next school year officially starts. In this unprecedented time in our lives, why am I trying to kill myself by trying to do it all when mentally and emotionally I am exhausted?
So I am talking to all of you perfectionist, type A, homeschool moms out there like me, especially if you are a poppy overachiever adult raising another poppy: it’s time to give yourself a break. It’s time to work on things that bring you joy or rest and take a break from the daily grind. Take care of yourself for once and allow yourself some margin in your life to just….be. Life may not truly be the same again for months if not a full year or more. Guard your heart and mind, do something that feeds your soul and strengthen yourself by giving in for a while. It’s not weak, it’s a necessary break during trying times.
And most of all, pray.
Thanks for reading!
