Skipping School

Today was the last day of third term. The school put on a musical this week with two matinees and two evening performances. The logistics of getting back and forth from school multiple times a day were exhausting. Last night as I got Small Sun ready for the evening performance he burst into near-hysterical tears. "I don't want to be in the show tonight! I've already done it too many times!"

This morning I let Small Sun decide if he wanted to go to school today or have a home day. Home Day! 

Baby's caseworker picked him up to take him on his regular Friday visit and we settled into a day of serious play. It was really good for my three kids to bond/fight/spend an entire uninterrupted day at home together. 

I let them watch a lot of tv. I let them play a lot of Wii. I also kicked them outside and they spent hours playing in several giant tupperware containers filled with water and bubbles. I took that time to potter around the yard pruning a lilly pilly, planting some basil, and installing a second compost container. 

Here we have this amazing new house and I hardly get to spend any present time in it. I am always cooking, cleaning, grabbing my keys and yanking sleeping babes out of their beds to roar off to school. Today I sat in several different places in the house and garden, letting my mind wander and imagine the possibilities. 

It's amazing how quickly our lives are stolen out from under us. My life contains such vast amounts of mundane necessity. Bottles made, nappies changed, bathrooms cleaned of the evidence of young boys shaky aim, meals shopped for, prepared, eaten and cleaned after again and again and again.

We needed a day where no one had to go anywhere. A day where we could follow the trail of imagination until it ran cold. A day to build an airplane out of sofa cushions and eat ice cream in mid-afternoon. 

I needed the break as much as the kids did. I was starting to feel that I might explode if I had to get into the car one.more.time.

Sometimes skipping school is the best thing to do.

 

Comments

[Kelly]

I couldn't agree more. Sometimes, it's good to just have a home day.

[Wendy Knight]

Absolutely!