Beware the Ides of March!

and

Happy Birthday James Madison (256) and Andrew Jackson (240)!

There, got that out of my system.  Now for the post…

We have a saying in Michigan:  “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.”

March 3                                                    March 13

See what I mean?

Here’s a 1-question quiz:

It is the first beautiful spring-like day this year.  The air is warm, the snow is melting, the creek (which only runs in the spring anyway) is overflowing.  You remember how much the kids loved the creek last spring.  Your approach to the day is…

(a)  “Well, beautiful day or not, school is in session until 4 pm, with your customary two 15-minute recesses…”

(b)  “You can go outside when your work is all finished.  Come on, let’s try to get it done a little earlier!”

(c)  “We have to get our whole list done, but I guess we can do our reading outside and trade indoor chores for outdoor ones.”

(d)  “OK, let’s blow cross off this, this, and this for today so that you can have some extra-long outdoor play breaks!”

(e)  “Let’s see what we can get done in the morning and not worry about the rest; then you can play outside all afternoon.”

(f)  “Schoolwork?  On a gorgeous day like this??!”

I tend to be a d kind of homeschool mom.  I can at times be more of an e, and feel like I really should be more of a b or a c, so I guess d is a good compromise.  (I would have implemented the second part of c as well, but it was really far too sloppy for reading outside.)  The problem with e is that we are not very disciplined around here, so “Let’s see what we can get done” usually translates to “very little”;  d keeps the kids (and me!!) a little more accountable.  I am often tempted (aren’t we all?) to be an f, but I can honestly declare that I have no desire whatsoever to be an a!  (Did you follow all that?)

This was Tuesday, March 13.  I forgot to add that exactly 7 days prior, I was in the same situation--  blowing off some schoolwork so that the kids could have extra-long outdoor playbreaks-- with one important difference:  One week earlier, the long playbreak was because, with at least 6" of snow on the ground, it was perfect SLEDDING and SNOW FORT weather!

Oh, and I so LOVE having this kind of setting in my back yard!  (Truth be told, most of the creek & woods are actually on the neighbor’s property, but we won’t worry too much about that minor technicality. :-)   Two years ago, when we still lived on a 50x100 city lot and were house-hunting, I never would have imagined I would be able to send my kids out for play break in such a setting.  God blessed us exceedingly abundantly beyond what we could have thought or imagined.  I try to remember every day not to take it for granted!