This afternoon I found myself peering down at the salad bar at a local kiddie amusement haunt.  You know the one with the dude dressed up in a scary looking rodent costume, the flavorless cardboard pizza and the penny prizes your kids extort 20 bucks off you to win?  As my stomach turned at the sight of the canned fruit cocktail and Jell-O salad before me, I found myself wondering what exactly I was doing there.  Simple.  I was killing time.  One of the 17 days (not that anyone is counting ;) ) my children have off school for Christmas vacation, though I am repeatedly reminded that use of the phrase “Christmas vacation” makes me sound like a dinosaur, as it’s now “winter break”. 

Winter break can be a beautiful thing.  Oh how great it was to have precious time with my beautiful babies (they object to this phrase as well) to bake cookies, have the neighbors over to make holiday crafts, and watch “A Christmas Story” at least a dozen times.  I also like to put my kids to work wrapping the truly odd shaped gifts we give people because when a kindergartner jacks up a package, it’s adorable.  When his mommy does it, it is what it is –- a crappy job.

But after the fat man has slid down the chimney, after all the gifts have been opened and we marvel at the number of trees sacrificed for this glorious gifting extravaganza that lasts mere minutes in most homes, and after all the friends and family have gone home … guess what?  We still have 9 more days of vacation (again, not that anyone is counting ;) )!  Okay, now what?

I really wish that I could tell you we’re putting these post-holiday days to good use in my household, perhaps volunteering at a soup kitchen, reading books to the blind or strategizing for world peace.  But in truth, we haven’t done any of that.  We’ve worked to restore order in our house (though the decorations remain in place until New Years), visited the Academy of Sciences and tomorrow sees a rockin’ trip to the public library, as well as the annual discussion of New Years goals (my kids are too young to resolve to lose weight or stop drinking … I hope ;)).  Really, not a very exciting break. 

But the important thing to remember is that it is a break.  One day the time will come when our kids are out in the working world with only 10 vacation days to their names and you better believe that when that time comes, we’re not going to be in the luxurious position of wondering how to kill 17 days with them.  Rather, we’ll be lucky if they come visit for anything more than a couple days around the holidays.  So while one could view my afternoon of god awful pizza and sub-par prizes as extortion, I prefer to enjoy it as a gift.

How has everyone else been treasuring this long break with their children?  Have any of you created truly fond memories you’d be willing to share, or do you find yourself sitting around asking, “Okay, now what?”  Experiences and ideas, both good and bad, are always welcome.