Winter Break From School = Long Winters Nap

So nothing has opened my eyes more to SPD than a good long winter break from school. My children like most are creatures of habit, they love there routines. Not in a bounce out of bed every morning and sing praise to routine and school kind of way (really if your kids do that on a daily basis please post below with how you made that happen ;) but in that they *are crazy kids* without it and I am loosing my mind. There I said it I dont deny that I too love there school routine. They are older now and there time away from the house even if for only 2 hours while Nash is at school is refreshing and a little piece of quiet that is well earned after our busy morning routine to rush and get them out the door.

SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder) can make it hard to get on a schedule or routine but once you do its the routine that holds our SPD family tightly together. Take that routine away and you have a mess of a SPD family and chaos ensues to say the least. This article at SPD Blogger Network really hits the nail on the head. While they are talking about the summer chaos it is really similar. Luckily winter breaks are shorter ;)

So you might as what do we do with this new (but temporary) lack of routine we have during winter break. Well first I needed to decide what was important to my family. My answer was sleep.... I choose to let the kids stay up a little later and sleep in a little later in the morning, I know this will cause issues when we get back to schedule next week (aka- I will be dragging them out of bed like teenagers for school) but its important they spend a little extra family time during the holidays and with Dad not getting home until 6pm sometimes a 7pm bedtime is just not whats important... right now at least. I'm also limiting video games and TV just like during the school week. With the fun of new games and movies they received for Christmas its hard to keep with the limit but its important to keep these boundaries and fill there time with other things during break, coloring, outside time (when weather permits), field trips even if to the store and lots of Lego time of-course ;) my thought on this is its easy to let them have at it and play a long time (more than normal) but its a hard habit to break again when school starts. I dont judge, just to each there own and trust me my kids have a decent amount of tube time its just not more than normal during the holiday break (or at least I try)

Remember the season, in the mist of all the chaos I try to make time to remember what this holiday break is all about. We go through our toys, clothes and food and get bags of donations to drop off at local shelters and food banks. We also talk about how grateful we are for all we have. We talk about how when they go back to school they need to be sensitive and aware of others who may not have had a great holiday and we talk about why that could be, but we also talk about not jumping to conclusion and how some people dont celebrate Christmas. How they may celebrate other holidays even. Another reminder everyone is different in there own way and we need to respect that and show love to our family and friends and we can do that in ways that are appropriate and not necessarily spending money. Today we made thank-you post cards for family and friends. See below :) Coloring and thank yous all in one!

Nothing like a good winter break from school to remind this SPD family that SPD is not going anywhere. While I didnt think it was, it has been a quiet month or two on the SPD front....I now 99% contribute that to our routines! As a future teacher (going back to school to get my degree) I feel for the teachers come January 4th, its going to be a long week (or two) to get these kiddos back on track with routines.