spring break, supermom (yeah right)

I got my comeuppance yesterday; me Ms. Smug 'I don't over schedule my kids Mom'. It's spring break and I've been feeling antsy. I'm finally feeling better and I've had it with washing sheets and scrubbing heads. I wanted to break freeeeee.

(That makes me think of Scamp in Lady & the Tramp 2. Yes, I have seen it many times, back when Uncle Cam bought it for Lexi's second birthday. Scott Wolf plays the rascally little offspring, yapping about not wanting to be a kept dog 'cause he wants to be wild and free.... See also: Little Mermaid 2. Not a second generation Disney character appreciates what they have, the ingrates.)

So, we've made day trips, and play dates, and went to the park, and watched movies late at night with popcorn with melted butter. I was rocking spring break.

We came to Thursday and on the agenda: house chores, Borders, picnic lunch at Washington park and then touring the Japanese gardens.

Now any one of these events would be lovely and I know my girl in particular would love the gardens. But we got hung up at the bookstore, over a rabbit puppet. Now a good mama would have recognized the breakdown in the making and took shelter but I didn't take that route, by golly. I just explained that post-Easter, post-birthday and pre-Disneyland*, I am not buying toys.

We left with our books and started down the freeway, Lexi sobbing and Zack trying to cheer her up, doing his best R2D2 impressions.

I closed my eyes (not really, I was driving) and I could see us at the garden now; Lexi red-eyed and hateful, unable and unwilling to enjoy the trip I was taking, just for her.

I took the exit, and gave them options. Lexi decided to purchase said rabbit puppet with her own birthday funds, and we went to a local park for a picnic. It was a bit cold, but Zack put his calluses to work, making good use of the the monkey bars, and Lexi flitted around with Hazel, Bunny Extraordinaire.

I took a bath that afternoon and my sister invited us over for banana splits; it was a good day.

I guess not knowing if/when we might move, has made me feel desperate to see it all. Desperate to see it all, because we might not be here next spring.

But I have to remember: Crazy rolls downhill. There are only so many hours of the day. And when mama keeps her wits about her, the whole family stays afloat.

*****


Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad. You are blazing a trail we all hope to follow.

*****
*More on the Disneyland details tomorrow.