Spanglish Accent: Skip Day - Preschool Style

One thing Chile really knows how to do is take a holiday. The other is celebrate their country. When the two of them meet in mid-September, watch out. Because winter is just starting to go into hiding and they throw a Spring Break vacation like no one else. Seeing as I have little kids these days, my Spring Break weeks are a bit milder than they have been in the past. Yet, somehow, I am still just as tired at the end.

This will be the first post in a my Spring Break Series. We had the past 10 days off of school (7 of them off of work for B) and I was determined that we would have fun. Or make ourselves very tired trying. So what did I have planned?

For starters, I decided to keep the little ladies of the house home on the Friday before vacation started. It was an executive decision that didn't take more than a couple of seconds to make. The girls showed up in my room at 7:30 telling me their lights turned green and they were ready for breakfast. I wasn't. That is when I decided why not take a skip day. They are in preschool after all. A day here or there away from school will not hurt. And it is the last year I can make these decisions willy nilly. Next year I am beholden to a school schedule. Froot Loops and juice boxes in bed it was. The T.V. blaring Doctora Jugetes and all the while my eyes stayed closed for just a few more minutes. No rushing through breakfast. No fighting about what was appropriate to wear to school. No time table. Just a promise of a few more snuggles in Mommy's big bed.

I finally sauntered out of bed and announced that we would be picnicking in the park that afternoon. While I went to make some lunches the girls were allowed to go upstairs and pick out their own outfits. {They did pretty good if I say so myself}.

We headed out to Parque Araucano which is not our usual park but is still one of our favorites. The girls love the fact that it has 3 distinct play areas (though there is a whole other side to the park, this side is their favorite) and they love that they can switch from climbing, to swinging, to sliding all without having to ask! I am within sight of all three areas at all times.

We stayed a couple of hours. We took our shoes off and felt the grass between our toes for the first time in Santiago since winter descended 3 months ago. We ran our fingers through the sand. We swung. We climbed. We slid. We ate. We rested. And then we did it all again.

Finally, we had to get home. We had a dinner to get to that night and one that shall not be named (Stinkerbell) still had to get a short nap in or she would be a handful at said dinner. So we started the slow walk out of the park - and discovered the painted benches. A huge row - double sided - or benches that had been painted by kids for the Teletón (Think Jerry Lewis - on a larger scale). They had to see them all...And who was I to say they shouldn't. So we did.

What a great way to start Spring Break - Chile style...