Playing Hooky

Sometimes I can be a real stickler for routine.  We have a scheduled routine for homeschool, I have a meal plan for the week, and I have a daily chore list.  I have learned over the past few years that without these schedules my very busy household will quickly fall into disarray.  It isn't pretty . . . trust me!  Plus, these schedules help this mama, who in all honesty is trying to do too much in a day, keep her sanity, and I have also learned that sanity is important.  A little boring, but important nonetheless.

Last week was a bonkers week for us here at Shenanigans Inc. with Zoe having to go to the IWK and then having to be picked up early one day because she was too sick to be in school.  Luckily, it was our scheduled week off from homeschool (we do school for 7 weeks and then take one off in lieu of taking the public school days off), because I would never have managed.  Unfortunately, all of the fun field trips the boys and I had planned to do on our week off had to be put on hold.  By the time Friday came, I was itching to get out of the house, but I just didn't see any way to do it.  Laundry was piled high, none of the housecleaning had been done for the week, and supper was not made yet.  As I started to tackle my never ending to-do list, I noticed that the boys were fighting.  Like seriously fighting, and they wouldn't stop.  It dawned on me that they too were probably feeling just as shack-whacky as I was so I dropped what I was doing (yes, I abandoned my schedule and my list . . . gasp!) and told them to put their bikes in the car because we were heading to the Irving Nature Park.

Now, so as not to give the impression that I am a reckless soul, who casts off her motherly mantle with ease, our first stop was a visit to our favourite barber, Dom Scichilone.  Okay, so I couldn't abandon the to-do list entirely . . . tee hee!  They look so much better, though:

Then we hit the park, and, truth be told, it was exactly what we needed:  fresh air, wide open spaces, and exercise!  Sometimes, when I am cooped up in the house for too long, my world becomes very small and all  my worries begin to weigh  heavily upon me, but out here, they all disappear:

By the time we returned home, I was able to put everything back into perspective, the boys stopped fighting, and my to-do list just didn't seem that important.  It was a perfect afternoon.