Would you let your kids skip school for this?

I let my kids skip school yesterday afternoon. No one was sick. No one had an appointment. And no one was more excited to get out of school at 1pm then my 3 kids!

It’s been a crappy Spring around here . . . sunshine only out for small windows of time and then clouds roll in and we have rain for days and days. Everything is soggy all the time. We've given up hoping for Spring and hike in the rain, bike in the clouds and just cross our fingers that Summer sunshine will be here one day.

That day came yesterday . . . it was HOT! Topping out near 40 degrees with the humidex! The sun brought along a clear blue sky and no wind. We were NOT letting this day go by uncelebrated! The days following were going to be sunny but not nearly as HOT! So I wrote notes to the teachers and picked up my kids at their lunch break and took them home . . . . to swim.

Yup. Swim.

We had our first in ground pool put in last Fall, the pool opened on Halloween weekend. We swam on Halloween in the cold and then closed it for winter. We were first in line to open our pool in May. And we have swam again in the cold, in the clouds, the wind and even in the rain. I hadn’t gone in yet . . despite us heating the pool, the air is always cold and shivering is not my idea of fun in a pool.

So when the weather promised sunshine and high humidity, the pool party planning began.

My kids have each missed maybe 1 day of school for illness all year, their grades are awesome, they had no special activity or test that afternoon and for all their hard work all school year long they expect nor do they usually receive, and treats. This day was a treat. This day is what we’ve been waiting for since last September and this day was going to be enjoyed.

Yesterday we slowed down and we lived that day to its fullest. My kids will always remember the fun they had swimming with Mom & Dad on a school afternoon and how wonderful that sun felt and how warm that water was and how good those popsicles tasted.

I’m hoping I have taught my kids to embrace the good opportunities in life, that it's OK to take time out for something special, to have fun and to live in the moment. Life is too short, and yesterday was just too perfect.

Would you let your kids skip school for this?

The Pinky Promise

The gig is up, the truth is out. On the way to dance last night my 8 year old heard something at school and wanted to know if it was true "Can 9 year olds get pregnant?" Whoa . . ummm, "it's possible, but it won't happen to you when you turn 9 in TWO Weeks!"

Thankfully we arrived at dance and I avoided any further discussion on that topic! Then on the drive home I reminded her she needed to write the Tooth Fairy a letter as she lost another tooth that day. She blindsided me again. . . "Is the Tooth Fairy real?" Whoa . . . ummm "why, what have you heard?" My way of trying to not tell her if I don't have to . . . but I had to. Everyone at school was telling her Mom & Dad take your tooth and leave the note and a surprise under your pillow.

We have big rules at my house about keeping secrets (bad) and telling lies (really bad) so I had to come clean . . . but treaded carefully, I didn't want to throw Santa under the bus just yet if I didn't have to!! Here is how it went down:

Me "I am not going to lie to you & you asked me so, after you Pinky Promise to not tell your two younger sisters, I will let you in to the Tooth Fairy Club." . . . after said Pinky Promise was complete . . ."Yes, I am your Tooth Fairy" . .I held my breath in anticipation . . she's an emotional girl and I worried the truth would crush her!

8 year old "Really?" her whole face lit up, giant smile like she new the biggest Secret ever kept, eyes as wide as they were in Disney. "YOU are the tooth fairy?"

Me "I have saved every note you have written to the tooth fairy and all the teeth you've left under your pillow. Mommies do this when you lose your first few teeth so its not a scary thing, waiting for the tooth fairy makes it fun to grow up!"

8 year old "Wow. That's cool. So you wrote all those notes?"

Me "Yup. You Ok with this?"

8 year old "Yeah!" . . .pause . . . TEARS . . . the crying I had anticipated was starting!

She didn't know why she was crying but I suspected its how any of us feel when we find out things are not how they had always seemed. This was big news for her. For the next hour I was "Positive Mommy" and talked about how cool it was that now she was in the Tooth Fairy Club and could be her 5 year old sisters Tooth Fairy when she lost her first tooth, that this was something special she knew and was to keep close to her so others could still have the joy of the tooth fairy, she of course would still wrote her letter that night, and I would write a special letter back as her "Pinky Friend" now, and I showed her 2 years worth of lost teeth and tooth fairy letters. But she struggled. She was not sure if knowing the secret was better than believing in the Tooth Fairy. She asked me lots of questions. I answered them all with honesty, a smile and a giant Positive spin!

We talked about how getting older makes you a little smarter and I reminded her how she questioned Cinderella a Disney just a few months ago. One minute Cinderella was in the restaurant having lunch with us and the next she was on stage outside the castle dancing. She knew it wasn't possible and hinted that Cinderella was someone "just dressed up".

8 year old "That's right, there were Cinderella's everyone. It was hard to tell which one was the REAL one!"

LOL!! Oh thank goodness, all innocence is not lost . . . Santa . . your secret is still safe at this house !!! Easter Bunny, I think you might be next!!

How will you respond when your child starts questioning?

What Happens At Summer Camp, Stays at Summer Camp

We did it . . . I mean they did it !! Each day they went to summer camp was better and more fun then the day before. Every mothers dream - your kids are happy and having a fantastic week! I should be thrilled . . and I am, except for one little question they can't seem to answer. . . "What did you do all day?"

Sure I get the old "we played games", or "we sang a song", or "we went canoeing" or "we went hiking", but I already knew all that - it was in the brochure, part of the program, what I paid for! What did you REALLY do all day?

I could tell them how I watched that clock every hour, how I wondered if they had sunscreen on, how I worried about my 6 year old the day they called for thunderstorms, how I hoped someone made sure they got on the right bus every night, how I checked my cell phone 30 times a day "in case" the camp called with a sick or crying child. Oh I could give them details.

But all they could give me was "we had sooo much fun", or "I loved it", or "I can't wait to go back next year", or "my counsellor was awesome." I guess its time for this mom to accept her girls are growing up, to revel in picking the right camp for her kids this summer and to realize that what happens at Summer Camp, is gonna stay at Summer Camp.

They are happy, so I am happy. And hey, I did find out one thing . . . .look what they made on craft day! How did your kids do at summer camp this year? More importantly, how did YOU do ??