March “Break”

With the changing of the seasons comes another long awaited break from school for the kids. This isn’t the experience for everyone but many parents when they hear the words “March Break” they can become immediately overwhelmed. How will I occupy my kids for that time? Did I arrange childcare? I can’t remember if grandma said she would take them this week or next. Didn’t we just have Christmas Break?

Sounds like anything BUT a break.

Historically, March Break was incorporated in order to assist in the local economy. Think things like the Nova Scotia lobster season or the New Brunswick potato harvest. March Break later turned into a much needed break for children and teachers in order to catch up on missed school work. For travel companies, March Break continues to be a large money maker.

When we think of March Break there is quite a bit of mental load associated with it, regardless if it feels overwhelming or not. If you aren’t familiar with the term mental load, in essence is the effort it takes to manage the forever running list of things to do to typically manage a household, a relationship or work position. Now if you hear March Break and have kids and think, oh it’s another day, chances are you aren’t carrying a piece of that mental load. Mental load associated with March Break could be arranging pick ups/drop offs, packing items for camp, arranging childcare, making extra meals/snacks, monitoring screen time, promoting physical activity, extra spending, planning daily activities, maintaining the house/monitoring chores etc.

At the end of the day, March Break is ultimately meant to be an opportunity for rest for children and youth. As much as it is tempting to fill your child’s schedule full of activities, not only is that not financially accessible to many families; it also isn’t necessary.

The studies around the benefits of boredom are endless. Children and youth require opportunities to experience boredom in order to promote creativity, confidence and a strong sense of self.

So this March Break, allow for some rest for yourself too. Take on what you can. As much as there are pressures to sign your children up for everything, most children and youth are happy with some much needed downtime as well as quality family time.

Chances are, you’re doing enough.

And if you are looking for low cost/free activities, check out my instagram as I try to share what’s going on in Vernon, BC and surrounding areas.

Kimberly Embleton