Needed: A Break From Spring Break

Although today is officially the first day of Spring Break, it already seems as if it's gone on forever.  That could be because Thursday and Friday last week were "teacher workdays" and other excuses to give kids a day--make that two days--off.

Back in in the Stone Age when I was growing up and going to school, there was no such thing as Spring Break.  We were lucky if we got Good Friday off from school.  There was nothing even slightly similar to teacher workdays, and especially not two of them every month.  No President's Day, MLK Birthday, or much of anything except the biggies.  You know, Labor day (if school started before that), Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's.  And summer, of course.

So why am I complaining?  Why am I crabby?  "Crabby" being the youngest grandson's new term for my mood.  Today there are four children in my small home.  They range in age from two years old to nine years old.  Two girls, two boys.  And we're short the fifth today, because the oldest granddaughter had a dental appointment and is with her mom.  They are all very active, always moving or at least talking.  Constant talking, whether anyone is listening or not.  Isn't it amazing that we can't wait to hear our children's first word, when a few years later we wonder if they'll ever stop talking? ☺

I've tried, but writing is impossible, so I'm a little over a week/chapter behind on my writing schedule.  It isn't going to get much better this week, although my goal is to at least not get any farther behind.  I know there are writing mothers out there who have to deal with this all the time, and they manage beautifully.  But they're young and able to bounce back after five hours of sleep...or less.  I'm at the age where a nap is needed during the day, even after a reasonable amount of sleep the night before.  (Memories of my parents snoozing in their recliners each evening or weekend afternoons comes to mind.)

Too, motivation is apparently on vacation.  Even if it wasn't, it's hard to get deeply into a character's POV, when a two-year-old is shrieking at the top of her sweet little lungs, because big brother--no matter which one--has decided to play with the toy she'd considered playing with thirty minutes ago.  No, I'm not kidding.  I think I've lost part of the hearing in my left ear.

So bear with me through my journey through Spring Break this week.  One way or another, I'm determined to make it and get back on schedule as soon as possible...which will probably be about the time school lets out for the summer.

The major problem of life is learning how to handle the costly interruptions. The door that slams shut, the plan that got sidetracked, the marriage that failed. Or that lovely poem that didn’t get written because someone knocked on the door. ~ Martin Luther King Jr.