A few weeks ago while sitting up in their room with them, my kids very non-chalantly asked me, "Mom, one day can we have a 'relax day'?" Actually it was Nathan who asked it but both he and William gave me their idea of what exactly a 'relax day' would entail. I asked them what would be the ideal 'relax day', then wrote it out in chalk on their walls (yes, they have chalkboard paint on their walls). The list consisted of:
- Stay home
- Watch TV/video games
- Eat nachos
- Drink lemonade
- Stay in jammies
- Relax on the couch
I thought today would be the perfect day for such an activity, seeing how it's the last day of summer vacation before Nathan's school starts. (William actually has till after Labor Day to enjoy his summer vacay)
So today when the kids woke up, I informed them that today was indeed going to be "Relax Day". They were thrilled! In fact, they wanted nachos for breakfast. Ha, ha. Nice try.
Even though they were granted unlimited Phinneas & Ferb and other nonsense TV, they did at one point turn it off to just hang and play.
Then, they suited up and played a bit of football. In the house.
And of course, "Relax Day" wouldn't be complete without nachos & lemonade for lunch. Not exactly my favorite comfort food, but who am I to argue?
And, along with the usual first-day-of-school interview I do every first day of school, we also have another fun back-to-school tradition. I bake the kids a fun dessert or treat to commemorate on the night before the first day of school. I've done this every year since Nathan (my oldest) first entered preschool. It has been a few years since I've tried the pencil cake (ahem, actually a brownie), so I thought I'd give it a whirl again. It came out ok, although I think I will have to go in for extra tutoring this year on handwriting!
But, the kids sure enjoyed it! I guess that's all that matters!
We are all very excited here about back-to-school tomorrow! Although I will have to say that I do LOVE my summers, I am excited because my kids are excited! It's so fun to watch their enthusiasm during this time. I just hope they can be this excited about school when it's time for midterms in college! Yeah, right—wishful thinking!
What are some back-to-school traditions that YOU celebrate with your kids and family?
OMG, I just realized from these photos that you got a new breakfast table! Send me pictures – we want to know which one y’all got!
And, I absolutely LOVE that last picture of the boys! Their faces are exactly as I left them. 🙂
sarah- the pic was on FB when we got it…here’s the link! You and Gui will love it! http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4487645&l=1ddf9451d0&id=618224924
Candy, we had a ‘relax day’ on Monday too which also allowed Reece lots of TV/Wii. He also ended up getting tired of it and turning it off to go play Legos and read books. So funny!