Spring Break - Day 1

It's here, and we're here, at home.  Both of the boys have the week off this week, which is the first time that has happened, and yet we're not going anywhere, just chillin' here at home.  We figured that we would want to just be settling in at home still after the big trip, plus there's not too much left in the old bank account after Africa.  But now that the week is here, I'm sort of rethinking that and wishing we were on our way to some extravagant family resort with multiple pools and umbrella drinks.

However, here we are.  So, in an effort to be a "Good Parent," I decided to really give this whole parenting thing 110% this week, and I told the boys that we would be having Spring Break Spectacular 2010 here at home.  We made a little calendar for the week, with a special event for each day.  Today was supposed to be picnic and kite flying after Gus finished his last morning of preschool.  Unfortunately, there were tornadoes and terrible thunderstorms all night, so our picnic plans were nixed.  But I wasn't even worried, because I am so prepared and awesome that I told them that we would just switch Friday morning's activity  - Easter egg dyeing - to this afternoon.  They were super happy with that idea, and after a fun lunch together at our fave burrito place, we headed home to get started with Day 1 of the Best Spring Break Ever.  

As an aside, if you are in my age demographic, and you are a woman, you may find that alot of things in your life remind you of an episode of Friends.  This is somewhat embarrassing, because it's not like it was such a highbrow show, but I'm just admitting something that I think at least some of you can relate to, whether you're willing to admit it or not.  So, one episode that I find myself thinking of quite a bit involved Rachel teaching Joey how to sail.  Somehow, Joey had a new boat, and Rachel was all excited to teach him how to sail the way her father had taught her, and they got all prepared with the gear, the clothes, the picnic, and then within five minutes she was yelling at him and criticizing everything he was doing.  The whole endeavor was a fiasco.  Likewise, I find that often when I try to do something special with my kids that I think will be fun - like making cookies, craft projects, playing a new game, or ... dyeing eggs, I end up turning into a monster.  It's never the rosy, happy event that I have imagined in my mind, because inevitably it's way more messy, the kids fight over which task they get to help with, or someone loses interest halfway through and starts trouble.  That's when I usually start yelling and/or drinking (usually and).  The lesson here for me should be to start drinking before I begin the project, because then I might not notice that things aren't going that well.

So I boiled up 18 eggs, got all the little tablets dissolved in the colored buckets, showed the children that I loved them so much that I had gotten a Star Wars kit so that they could put Star Wars stickers on the eggs, and explained how to use the flimsy little wire dippers.  After some preliminary fighting over who would get which Star Wars sticker, we got started.  Now, I know that eggs can be hard to handle, and those dippers are not easy to use, but let's just say that significantly more eggs ended up on the floor than back in the carton.  Some were dropped before they made it into the dye, and others went overboard just after they came out of the bath, thereby splattering colored water all over the place.  I have to say that I give myself alot of credit for maintaining my cool through most of this.  I cheerfully noted that we would sure have alot of eggs for egg salad, and we all enjoyed eating at least one right then (Ruby somehow got a whole egg into her mouth in one bite!).  However, I did totally lose it when I looked over to see Gus cracking the last white egg on the side of the table.  Why?  He wanted to eat it.  What about the others that were already cracked?  He forgot about those.

Okay, at least there were no major spills of colored water, and the boys were pretty happy with the seven eggs that did manage to get dyed without incident.  I just find myself wishing that I had more patience, so that when I do try to do something nice for the kids, it ends up being a good memory for them.  I think back on my childhood, and I don't really remember my mom getting mad at us for messing stuff up, and I wish I could just be more at peace with the chaos.  To quote another timeless sitcom, "Serenity Now!"

Tomorrow is the zoo, so that should be easier in a way.  Will report back.