A Wild + Precious Spring Break
a monthly column by Amber Smith Zaliski
Before we go any further, I have to tell you something: Spring Break is a lie.
I’ve known it for a while, like since I was a middle-schooler, and I would ask my parents something dumb like, “What are we doing for Spring Break?!” And they would say something like, “Um, we’re working, what are you doing?” Turns out I was probably gonna be home watching Sally Jessy Raphael and maybe reading some books. (I turned out mostly fine.)
College Spring Breaks – was I ever on some beach somewhere watching people roll around in honey and feathers like MTV always promised? NO! (Thank God.) I do remember one Spring Break camping trip where I thought I might freeze to death because that daytime sun was quite deceptive. It’s really not that warm yet in Arkansas in March.
Teacher Spring Break was the best version. Of course, that was before I was a parent, so I didn’t have my own people asking things like, “What are we doing for Spring Break?!” A lesson I learned pretty quickly rolling back into school: don’t ask your students to write about what they did for spring break, or summer, or Christmas. Most of them probably didn’t get to do much of anything.
Last year I got to experience Spring Break as a parent – sort of. At three, my daughter wasn’t asking me, “What are we doing for Spring Break?!”, but she did keep asking me why she couldn’t go to school, and I kept wondering, do I get a discount this month? Haha, oh, no? It’s amazing how quickly a few hours of preschool a week made me panic at the thought of Spring Break.
Spring Break as a parent has to be the toughest. “What are we going to do?!” If you can’t swing that Caribbean cruise this year, and you don’t want to stand in line at Six Flags with every other Spring Breaker in a 200-mile radius, maybe you can consider just taking an actual break? Oh, your kids aren’t really about that life? Mine either.
Luckily you don’t have to go far to find some fun. I’m hoping we can make it to Sullifarm and Kitchen in Hooks this spring for a farm tour. We can’t wait to go back to the Little Country Greenhouse in New Boston when their butterfly cottage opens, and TRAHC has been offering art camps for bigger kids that look really fun. If your kid(s), like mine, never runs out of energy, though, you’re going to need to find some open spaces outside. A consistent hashtag on my Insta since my girl has been around: #playgroundlife. Text some friends, pack some snacks, and check out some of our favorite playgrounds around town!
We love Spring Lake Park for riding bikes and scooters, playing disc golf, and flying kites. We go to Bringle for the trails and the gnome homes. For actually playing on playgrounds we head to Church on the Rock, Jefferson Park at the Fairgrounds, and Kings Park in Wake Village. Hit one a day, or playground-hop from daylight to dark. Sometimes I’ll even spend a dollar on a kid-sized vanilla frosty, and my girl thinks she is princess of the world. I like that about her.
If you’re needing more adventure and slightly different scenery, check out my friend Nichole’s blog for day-trips and beyond. Some of her nearby must-sees: El Dorado’s Murphy Arts District playscape and splash pad, the Logoly and Cossatot State Parks in Arkansas, and Daingerfield and Atlanta State Parks in Texas. For more inspiration, check out www.luckeywanderers.com and find her on Instagram as coleyraeh. Bonus: she knows all the good coffee shops along the way.
So, Spring Break is a lie, but these other truths make it okay: you can make your own fun close to home, it’s finally sort of feeling closer to summertime, and also, it’s okay for kids to be bored sometimes.
If you’re jetting off somewhere fun, enjoy it! If you’re staying home, I hope you seek out some local adventures and enjoy those! I’ve got prayer hands ready dreaming of sunshine for all of us.
