On Wednesday, a mom asked Rose if she were enjoying her vacation, and it took me a moment to figure out what she was talking about. Oh, some people call this week vacation. Rose calls it being banished from the pleasures of school; I call it scrambling madly for the physical and emotional resources to manage two children at home.

But now, we have both gotten into the groove of trading play dates with my sister, extended visits with grandma, brownies at every turn, and it will be an adjustment to go back.

Here’s what Rose did this week:

bowling
dance class
Gabrielle’s birthday party
gymnastics
hang out at Miriam’s house and play with her birthday presents
her first in-the-theater movie (well it was at the Nordic Heritage Center)--Pippi Longstalking
make your own paint from cornstarch and vinegar
Miriam’s birthday party
play dates with three school friends and daily ones with her cousins
shop at the grocery store with the gang
shop for Miriam’s new ballet outfit
shop for new sneakers
sleepover with Miriam at Mommom’s
Sunday School
the Children’s Museum downtown
the Children’s Museum in Everett
Tot Shabbat
two parks in the glorious almost spring weather
visit her old pre-school and hug her old teachers