I almost want to laugh when I hear the words “Spring Break” because for most parents, this week or so off of school is the absolute furthest thing from a spring break as we once knew it.

Obviously, as we enter into the world of parenthood, complete with 800 pounds of plastic baby gear, sleepless nights and diapers and spit-up, we experience a paradigm shift of epic proportion. And we have to. From the minute that baby enters our arms, our lives change in ways we never could have imagined.

The way we view sleep changes. The way we view our home, our pets, our clothes, our everything changes, and our focus is entirely on keeping our tiny one safe, healthy and happy.

So yes, the spring break as we once knew it changes too. Maybe for some spring break meant umbrella drinks on the beach—or maybe it was closer to totally cheap beer, funnels and the "Girls Gone Wild" scene. 

For me, spring break just meant a break from work—school work when I was in college (and too broke to hit the islands with my pals—boo-hoo!) and school work when I was teaching. Spring break gave me a chance to catch up on my lesson planning, grading and reading. It gave me a break from tutoring. It was my chance to just sit. To explore the cities around me. To hang with my friends. To relax.

But now, as a parent of three kids, spring break—like winter break—has become the biggest non-break ever. It means that my work time while the kids are in school is gone so I have to stay up later to finish it all. It means that my husband is home all week long, which means the house is an even bigger mess than it is when it’s just the kids and me. It means that I have to prepare three meals a day for five people, for over a week. It means that we have to clean up from that many meals, that many times a week. It means throwing in a birthday celebration somewhere in there and an Easter dinner, egg hunts and dying eggs.

It’s a lot. It’s fast-paced, loud and busy.

But it’s still a break nonetheless. Bedtimes are later. Wake-up is later. There are no lunches to pack. There are a lot of mini-battles to extinguish, but it’s my life and I am grateful for every wild second of it.

So this week, I'll throw on my fanciest flip-flops and let my desperate-for-a-pedicure feet get some sun. And if the rain never stops, and if the only place I wear my flips is in this house, I’ll still be a happy mama, trying to keep smiling at the end of the new spring break: Spring Break Family-Style.