Track Break Ending

I am sad to report that today is officially the last day of my track break. Since Owen has been about 16 months, he has been so active and hard headed, that being home alone with him is so much more work than going to work. Past track breaks he liked to wake up at 4:30 in the morning and not nap and that made for a very long day. Let's not forget, this time last year, when he stuck a noodle up his nose! Just one of the examples of how he certainly kept me on my toes!

This track break I decided to start potty training. I fully expected to be homebound the entire month trying to get my child to potty train. To my surprise he picked it up in just a day or so. Refused to poop in the potty until just two days ago, but still, much easier than anticipated.

Since we did not need to be stuck at home close to the potty, I worked up the nerve to take both boys out in public by myself. We started first with the park, that is nice and fenced in so Owen can't escape. Then, a friend invited us to story time at the library, where Owen even went potty! We went to the store to get ideas for Christmas, Owen went out to breakfast with Uncle Tobie, and we treated ourselves to In-n-Out Burgers one day.

We have had a nice laid back track break, Owen playing with his race cars and Max trying desperately to crawl across the room. We have slept in, by that I mean close to 7 am most mornings and it has just been a nice change of pace from our normally hectic days of trying to get out the door in the mornings and then dealing with cranky tired boys in the evenings! Of course, there have been the occasional melt downs, and Owen still does not take a nap, but he does relax in front of the TV for a little while and have quiet time.

Track breaks are always weird for me, I spend the first week not really sure what to do, feeling like I need a "to do" list and not feeling busy enough. The first week is usually spent checking papers and not knowing how to take a vacation from the classroom. Then throughout track break I master the art of being relaxed and I pick up some novels from the library and start to forget about the unchecked papers that are still sitting on top of the fridge, so that when track break ends I find myself not really looking forward to going back to work.

But it's only three weeks and then we will be on Christmas break, and Gavin will home too and we can relax together for another two weeks!