Hooky

We played hooky today.

I am not fond of the morning routine, and am missing my slow morning with the boys.  The other day Owen said that he missed our “pajama days” when we never even bothered to get dressed.  When he said this, a plan started forming in my head…

Owen has been coughing in the night and mornings for several days now, so I decided that would be my excuse to keep him home.  I also convinced myself that school wouldn’t be particularly productive the day after Halloween with tired teachers and kids on sugar-crashes.  I didn’t really believe myself.  Neither did Owen.

He and Jack had climbed in bed with me in the morning and we were laying there for awhile.

Owen: Is today a school day, Mama?

Mama: Um, no.

Owen: (surprised) Is today Sunday?

I wonder if he will notice that I didn’t answer.  I really don’t want to lie to him.

Owen:  I know it’s not the weekend Mama because Daddy isn’t here.

Still no answer.  I wonder if Owen believes I fell back asleep.  After several minutes…

Owen: If you don’t want to send me to school, that is fine.  But I know it is not Sunday or the weekend.  (big sigh of acquiescence) But I will stay home if you want me to.

Mama: I think it is a good idea for us all to stay home today and just rest so our bodies are really healthy.

Owen: Ok.  Can I eat something out of my Halloween basket for breakfast?

Mama: (Can I plead the 5th here?)

We stayed in our pajamas and I cleaned out the laundry room.  The monkeys found it quite entertaining to play with the things that I dragged out of that room.  The first things were the air mattresses that have been in there since the summer waiting for me to blow them up and figure out which has a hole.  The monkeys made forts using these, the couch, dining room chairs, and blankets.  This lasted several hours.

Unfortunately, the laundry room was really messy (it is possible that I throw things in there when I don’t want to deal with them.  It is also possible that  it has been several years since I have wanted to deal with most things in there…)

The boys and I stopped for a reading break and each of them read to me.  An hour passed before we were done.  Jack can just not get enough reading and is learning a new sound every day!  He doesn’t know all of his letters so he can only call some by the sound.

When the boys started asking for candy, I initiated a cleaning routine and made the boys do two jobs for every piece of candy.

Soon the dishwasher was empty, Owen’s room was clean, the shoes were organized, the coat closet was organized, the toys were all put away, Jack’s bedding and all of the dirty laundry around the house was brought to the laundry room.  This took four pieces of candy per monkey and two episodes of Curious George.  Totally worth it!  They even asked to keep going, but I was out of ideas for jobs that the monkeys could do that would not create more work for myself.

It was such a great day.  I felt so relaxed and felt like I got so much done including several hours of time to play with the boys. There were no tears, no battles over getting something done quickly, no breakdowns for silly reasons.  It totally makes me want to pull Owen out of school and teach him myself.  I won’t because I do think Owen benefits quite a bit from being in school.  I do wonder, however.  How many days can one play hooky before the truancy officers show up at your door???