Lazy Vacation Days: the stuff of Dreams

Notice the PJs and unkempt hair - one of those great days!

      We have an unusual Christmas break this year.  Instead of going back to school like most everyone else did today, we don't return until next week.  This is great for those people who are traveling, who have family in town, who have great things lined up to do.  But, unfortunately we don't.  Every night when getting ready for bed, I tell Kenny, "I have no idea what to do tomorrow."  And I don't.  We wake up late, we stay in our pjs, we watch TV, play board games and the kids are on their own while I try to take down Christmas decorations or as I try to purge (see old post) more and more things. 
      It doesn't help that I've been sick for over a week with a frustrating cold that has my ribs hurting from all the coughing. It's not enough sickness to keep me in bed because everyone knows you're only allowed a daytime snooze when you have a fever of 101, but it's just enough to make me a bit miserable.  But, lucky for the kids, instead of being a cranky patient, I am one easy-going mom.  Sure, you can watch a movie.  Sure, you can make your own lunch of cheese sticks and cheez-its.  Sure, we can go to Petsmart and buy a fish.  Sure,  you can play that video game again and again. 
Lydia asked me one day, "Why are you being so nice?"  Ouch. 
     One particular day we decided to try out everything we got new.  So, the kids made SNOW in a Can, Kenny made Yogurt popsicles, Elijah made root beer, and the girls made somewhat gross pretzel sticks with the Easy Bake Oven that required way too much supervision on my part. But it was somewhat satisfying to do all the activities instead of putting the gifts in a pile for a rainy day.  At our house this whole week has been treated as one rainy, cold day.  And while I hate having that pesky cough, I kind of like the slow-living. 
       These certainly aren't the Christmas vacation days of dreams (for most people.) And I feel bad for my kids when they get back to school and have to write an essay on "What I did over Christmas break" (do they still do that ?) but when I look back at my childhood Christmas breaks, we didn't take grandiose trips, we didn't go on far-out adventures with our time off either. Some years we traveled to see family, while other years we stayed put.  We hung out.  Friends came over. I played Atari. We played in our pajamas.  I braided my sister's hair.  We played card games, mostly Spite & Malice (who knows that one?), We watched Christmas specials.  I read corny pre-teen love stories way into the night. We ate lots of junk food. 
      I loved it then.  I still love it now.  We spend most of our year going, going, going, working on such little sleep that these two and a half weeks of merely nothing truly is the stuff of Christmas dreams.