Monday after spring break

Last week both kids were off from school. I still had to teach at my paying job and attend a few meetings, but I took it pretty easy last week too. We had some really nice times (we bought trail bikes for the whole family!) and some challenging times (the usual -- arguments between kids, arguments between kid(s) and parent(s), arguments between parents). Overall it was a good, refreshing set of days of limited responsibility. But, as it does every year, the end of break approached. We have a certain precocity in our family that permits us to perceive horrors like Monday as early as Friday (the last "real" day of spring break), which is just what happened. But we pressed on to enjoy the weekend, which included a rainy Earth Day spent planting a butterfly garden with friends and a sunny next day spent wandering a local garden. The boys would probably tell you that the peak event came Sunday evening, when I introduced them to "Macolm in the Middle," a show that we can all relate to in different ways. I'm not sure it's quite as funny as "Scrubs," which we are also enjoying as a family, but it's probably more appropriate for 8- and 10-year-old boys.

Now we are back to work, and it's hard to recall how we normally handle responsibility. To get back into rhythm, Will and I decided to take on two important topics: Shakespeare and writing. I will explain. Will is taking a class on Shakespeare Friday afternoons at a local arts organization. At the end of the term they are performing an abridged version of the Scottish play, which I'm not permitted to identify by name. Last week Will successfully auditioned for the role of Banquo and was also assigned narrator 4. (He explained that Banquo is a key character, but one who dies midway through the play -- the exact right level of responsibility for a ten-year-old kid.) Today we read through the script and ran his lines a couple of times. This activity is a delight because this child has incredible recall. He always has. He has two weeks to memorize his lines, but he's already almost there. I admit that I am excited that I will be volunteering to help with the production. I don't know yet what my job will be exactly but I love theater and I love being useful. I thank the Delaware Homeschool Facebook group for bringing this class to our attention.