My kids are getting older, which means winter break looks different here. Sniff.
Of course, we’ll still be decorating cookies and mushing together the family clam dip. (It’s a Breitenstein thing.)
But Christmas Eve, we’ll have three different pickups of three different kids: two teenagers have gone for more fun with relatives this week, and my oldest–the Marine–arrives from Camp Pendleton.
So for a lot of the world, boredom is real. I read in a meme that pandas can eat 13 hours a day…hence calling this a “pandemic.” Need a couple of fresh ideas while you’re bored in quarantine?
Try these jigsaw puzzles from White Mountain with icons from the 80’s and the 90’s–serious conversation starters. (“Dad, who was Michael Jackson?”)
Before I was ever a writer, I was a reader.
But it’s fair to say that being a writer strongly influences how I want to read–and vice versa.
I don’t know about you, but back-to-school prep is real, folks.
Your kids are asking if they need shots (which makes you, in turn, ask if they need shots.) You’re buying 8-packs of dry erase markers, enough pencils to take the SAT every day for an entire year, and wondering if you could still repurpose that lunchbox with the barbecue sauce stain on it that looks like Ronald Reagan.
Missed the first list? Grab it here.Note: You are not the cruise director/court jester/general fun planner for your home. There are great benefits to kids being bored– and there are even dangers to our kids having the expectation they will always be entertained.
My kids will have some extra chores over break (trust me; there will be extra mess), and it’s really important to me that they not think their world is about them.
But sometimes it’s great to have a few ideas up your sleeve to create memories, get creative, serve others (the first list has printable thank you notes, too!), and have meaningful quality time together, soaking up childhood.
![Now You're Speaking My [Love] Language](https://www.janelbreitenstein.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/love-languages-text-1.jpg "Now You're Speaking My [Love] Language")
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