For as long as I can remember, spring break was never travel time for my family. Growing up in a suburb of Chicago, our spring breaks usually consisted of day trips to the city to visit the various museums or parks. On rare occasions, we would spend the night at a hotel. Fast-forward to my mom era, having a child with a physical disability entails a list of new challenges when traveling.
We rarely make big trips, so this spring break, we enjoyed time close to home. Here is my diary:
Sunday
Because of when my son had spring break, the week started off with Easter. I created an adaptive Easter egg hunt in our house that allowed him to use his gait trainer to collect eggs. I turn anything I can into exercises that practice the very skills he has been working on. As he walked through, he named the colors of the eggs and had to focus on picking them up and placing them in his bucket. I made brunch and he went through all the things in his Easter basket. It was a very enjoyable day with family.
Monday
Luckily, my husband has Mondays off, so we spent some time trying to figure out a good thing to do. We debated going to the Muse, which we love to do. My son is an aquarium kid, but we didn’t want to fight traffic to get into Gatlinburg. We ultimately decided on going to Zoo Knoxville, which is something we have not attempted in a while. Through my husband’s work, we get special deals on tickets to the zoo, so it made for a cheap outing. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of handicap spaces in the parking lot; it’s not often that I see enough handicap parking around town. We enjoyed our time at the zoo. I learned that my son does not like snakes after the trip through the reptile house ended early. He saw his favorite animals, including elephants and birds. We had a funny experience with the beaver and made a stop by the merry-go-round for a ride. My son chose to ride the elephant. Even though my son loves the aquarium, I think he enjoyed the zoo.
Tuesday
Tuesday was a calm and relaxing day at home. Chores don’t take time off for spring break, so I took this time to do some things around the house. I did laundry and my son helped (by “helped,” I mean he would take the folded clothes and unfold them). He also spent time pulling all of the Easter grass out of the Easter basket my mother-in-law gave him. I could have stopped it before he made such a big mess, but he was having fun, so I let it happen. For the record, I am still finding random pieces of Easter grass throughout the house.
Wednesday
I help decorate for vacation bible school at my church, so on Wednesday, my friend and co-decorator came over to do some crafting. While we were working, my son got to do one of his favorite things. He thought he had unsupervised shenanigan time. Was he unsupervised? Absolutely not, but he always likes to think he is getting away with things. He does his best work on his neck strength and crawling when he thinks he isn’t supposed to be doing it. We also made a quick trip to Hobby Lobby, which my son loves. In the evening, my parents returned from a three week international vacation and my son got to be reunited with his favorite person, his Papa.
Thursday
I had to drive to the Tri-Cities airport for a meeting and had to take my son with me. Luckily, my dad came with us and was able to watch my son during the meeting. Since we didn’t want to drive all that way and not take the opportunity to do some exploring, on the way home, we stopped at a park my son’s physical therapist recommended called Darrell’s Dream Boundless Playground, which is located in Warrior’s Path State Park. The Park has so much to do, but the playground brought tears to my eyes. It was truly the best inclusive playground I have seen — there was so much to do for a child with any ability! Unfortunately, it was rainy and cold, so we couldn’t stay long, but I can’t wait to go back in warmer weather. That night, I enjoyed a nice evening out with some fellow Knoxville moms.
Friday
My parents came to hang out with us at home. My son was so happy to have them back that he didn’t need to go anywhere to have fun. I think they read him every one of his books and he couldn’t have been happier. In the evening, they watched him so my husband and I could go to a friend’s birthday party at Dave and Buster’s in Sevierville. It has been many years since I have been to a Dave and Buster’s. The food was great and it was a lot of fun. This is definitely something we will do again!
Saturday
WE MADE IT THROUGH SPRING BREAK! Saturdays are for rest and recovery, especially after a week of entertaining a preschooler without school.
