A Welcome Break from the Routine...

After the happy holiday hoopla, Team WestEnders prepared to kick back and coast through the days between the Yule and the New Year. Husband managed to arrange "Authorized Hooky" (that must be an Official Business Term, right?) for most of the work-week. And of course the young hooligans--I mean my energetic, enthusiastic, ever-so-entertaining sons--have the remainder of 2011 free from the scholastic grind. Now, when they were toddlers and much more high-maintenance, the prospect of a loooong unstructured period of time would have driven me into paroxysms of planning--that is, attempting to schedule playdates and outings and as many other activities as I could think of, to keep them busy and avoid the dreaded "Small Child is Bored So Must Create Mayhem Syndrome". These days, it's much more low-key. How have we been occupying ourselves during the hiatus, you ask? (Or even if you didn't...) Here's a sample:

--"It's 10:00, can we play video games now?" (Somewhere along the road, Derek and Riley got into their heads that ten a.m. represents the reasonable, acceptable hour to commence their daily electronic pursuits. I don't recall exactly how this happened--maybe one time they asked for permission the moment their eyes opened in the morning, and in exasperation I plucked "ten o'clock" out of the air to stall them. Whatever the case, it's now a de facto Family Rule.)

--And on a related note: "Can I download (fill-in-the-blank) app? It's FREEEEEE!" This would be Derek, who has been positively giddy exercising the power of his index finger with his new iTouch. I have to type in the password every time for him--but hey, the joy of being pursued by ravenous monkeys through ancient ruins (Temple Run, in case you were wondering) is evidently...priceless. Then there's Riley: "Hey, Mom, if I beat this level of Plants vs. Zombies I think I'll unlock a special mushroom!" (That's nice, dear, but don't distract me right now, I've almost completed the last episode in the very special Christmas version of Angry Birds: Wreck the Halls!) Well, at least we share our progress and accomplishments, yes? That's kinda...social...ish?

--Struck by my semi-annual French Fry Craving, (yes, these incidents only occur a few times a year, but when they do, you'd best hand over the potatoes or risk the consequences!) the boys and I took advantage of our lack of time constraints to get the heck out of the house in search of some crunchy french-fried goodness. (Also, feeding the Bottomless Pit Boys every few hours at home gets really old...really fast. Believe me, sometimes it's well worth it to pay someone else to prepare food.) In a strategic Mom Move, I sneakily rolled the promise of "lunch OUT" into a trip to Kohl's (Aaah, the exhilaration of Post-Holiday Bargain Hunting). So the boys did earn their reward, although they dragged their sorry carcasses around the store, eyes only half-open, yawning and groaning all the while about how tirrrreeed they were. Vacation--you know, all that eating and sleeping and playing--is apparently absolutely exhausting.

--However, bouts of unbridled rambunctiousness still seem to arise frequently, and when they feel one coming on, they have been known to explode with sudden bursts of creativity. This week for example, they've been staging Band Practice. The current name of the duo, I'm told, is Fearless Flyers, but as this changes on a regular basis, I wouldn't order a t-shirt just yet. Naturally they feature Derek on drums, while Riley handles the vocal duties. Are they any good? Well, it's hard to say...but I can assure you they are plenty loud! (Let's put it this way: even two floors above them, I can hear them...perfectly...) Hey, it's collaboration and not the alternative (which would be known by the delicate phrase: "beating the snot out of each other") so I shouldn't complain, right? And speaking of self-expression, Derek also inquired as to whether I wanted to break out our newest game for the Wii--Let's Dance 3--so he could "get his funk on". Volunteering to shake his groove thing...with his mother? Now I KNOW he must be starting to feel bored!

--Finally, what would Winter Break be without a little Me Time? (Even though that was rhetorical, I'll tell you anyway: it would quickly degenerate into "Time to Check Mom into a Nice Padded Room"...so let's avoid that, shall we?) I seized the opportunity to slip out for coffee (and donuts--B-O-N-U-S) with my sister and an old friend visiting from out of town. Just us three girls, and we had the rare and precious chance to chat for several hours (gasp!) without interruption from kiddies or hubbies or...life. We traded stories, we laughed (a ton), we had ourselves a grand time. And not once did someone beg for a taste my food, or interrupt me to report that his brother was strangling him (or fill in some other dangerous and painful verb), or pause my conversation to ask me to come find something...it was sheer bliss, I tell you!

So there you have it: start with a lot of relaxation, mix in some flurries of activity to keep everyone from totally morphing into Vacation-Couch-Monsters, and you have the recipe for a successful Winter Break. Next up: bring on 2012!