I am not sure if this makes me sound like I have COVID fatigue or if I am simply on such a flow of one day literally blending seamlessly into the next but I missed the fact that something big is coming soon.
It has come to my attention that my son is off of school for Spring Break in a couple of weeks!!!
Huh?
How exactly did we get to this marker of the year so quickly especially when the days and weeks seem to go slowly? Weird to me too!
But none the less there it is on the school calendar….April 2nd! Michael is off for a full 10 days. AGAIN I say to myself Come on Michele, you know that this has ALWAYS been on the schedule. And that while COVID has changed nearly every landscape of everything in life….Spring break holds tight and is right where we left it last year.
So now come the questions…..
What will Spring Break look like for us this year?
What can we or will we plan?
What will we feel safe doing during this time off this year?
What will we do that will make the break memorable?
I know that for those who have a special needs child in their life, making the time to think about options and make some tentative plans will allow you to help your child better plan for these new things or dare I even say ..things that are new to their schedule. Because something I noticed with Elizabeth is that even if we plan something not NEW in and of itself but NEW to her day to day life, it requires talking it through with her. I think COVID life has limited so many things that what was once an easy and okay option can actually be something that requires reviewing or talking about. With Elizabeth’s special needs of SPD( Sensory Processing Disorder) and Global Dyspraxia, planning and talking help keep her anxiety at bay and allow her to plan for the activity better. And better for her means better for us all.
So maybe now is the time to take that look at what Spring Break will look like in your world. With our children learning remotely one day …no wait! Back to in person learning….no wait again!…back to remote…it is hard to think how to make home for break be just that….HOME and On BREAK at the same time! They are so used to being home and working or home and on a video class ( sorry can’t reference the obvious trademarked word) that they may find that transition to seeing home be just that for them…again maybe a good time for a conversation or chat to whatever is your child’s best way to communicate.
If you are thinking of traveling, maybe time to have the conversation as to what that means this year. We are thinking about MAYBE renting a treehouse cabin for a night or two just to be somewhere calm, safe and quiet. But I just told the kids that “You know I will have to pretty much wipe down the entire thing…right?” So that is different than any other quick trip. Will we go out to eat….not likely. And just so we have shared expectations, we will be talking about the things we will or won’t be doing. I can for sure say the woods poses no COVID threat, so there’s that!!!
I guess my whole point is that since the world is in this crazy place…some parts are open and some are cautiously opening… Some people are ready to just GO and others, not so much, that deciding ahead of time just where your family falls will help you plan what you wish to do or experience on this time off. I feel conversations now leads to less stress later, just my opinion.
And then there are those who think a stay-cation is the way. Sounds simpler doesn’t it? But it still, in my opinion, requires a bit of planning because I know that in mid week, I so do not want to hear “what are we doing today?” to which I might just have nothing to offer…. so best to plan a bit be it movie night, scavenger hunts, exercise plans, dinners to go!
So all this to say Spring break time is on the horizon…plan accordingly 🙂
I wish everyone a peaceful week and please keep wearing a mask!
Michele Gianetti author of Elizabeth Believes in Herself
Special Needs Essentials Blog 