One of the best things about being a teacher is WINTER BREAK…TWO full weeks off in the middle of the year…it’s almost impossible to find words that explain how much this means to teachers. Winter break means you’re half-way to summer…the only thing better than winter break is SUMMER BREAK.

I was looking forward to THIS winter break more than I have any others, at least in the last few years. This winter break was going to be exceptional because I was set to spend over a week visiting my family back home in UTAH. And not only was I going to visit, I was bringing my granddaughter Mackinley.

I enjoy every moment of every winter break….ALWAYS! Each winter break is special and each winter break is different but this year, my winter break meant more to me than most.

So….what did winter break mean this year???

Winter Break Meant…

• It meant almost 30 hours at the airport with a 2 1/2-year-old, 2 cancelled flights, lost bags, endless lines, a baggage claim disaster, the news channel reporting on the Frontier Airlines debacle, multiple trips back and forth to the airport in search of our bags, Mack making friends with the flight crew, Mack meeting the pilot, visiting the cockpit AND talking into the flight attendant’s microphone and FINALLY, to Mack’s abundance of excitement, taking off and soaring through the clouds.

 

• It meant listening to Juju On That Beat hundreds of times. This is Mack’s favorite song AND dance and she wanted to share it with EVERYONE…..pulling out her iPad…“Can I show them the Juju On That Beat?”…followed by a sweet dance.
• It meant eating… A LOT and mostly sweets. Don’t judge.
• It meant meeting my FIRST and ONLY niece Jade Marshall!
• It meant just chillin at home…MY home, the home I grew up in, the only home that will truly ever be HOME.
• It meant watching UFC with my mom…one of the biggest fight fans I know.
• It meant family parties and dinners (yes, more eating).
• It meant spending time with my Dad, my Step-Mom Joy, my brother Caden, and my sister Carrie.

• It meant breakfast with my Mom and Dad at Denny’s, several times. Literally my dad’s favorite place to go. He knows all the waitresses and they love him.
• It meant watching my Grandpa Don play “little man walking” and “da-dump-da-dump” with Mackinley, his Great-Great Granddaughter.

• It meant watching Mackinley sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star at a family party in order to put everyone “to sleep.”
• It meant figuring out how to fit at least 15 pound of custom-made metal stars that my Grandpa Don, “The Tin Man,” gave me in my luggage for the flight home.
• It meant laughing hysterically during a selfie photo shoot with my mom in which we staged ourselves playing the piano (neither of us can play), singing Christmas carols (we have terrible voices), exchanging gifts, sharing a cup of tea, and gazing in awe at the beautiful Christmas lights.

• It meant sleeping in a full-sized bed with a 2 year-old for an entire week. Sleeping arrangements were dictated by Mackinley, I slept on the side she told me to, I used the pillow she gave me, and she woke me up everyone morning by pulling on my arms and saying, “C’mon MeMa, I gotchyou. We’re awake now.”
• It meant my 87 year-old Grandpa Don going to the hospital with pneumonia and the flu (He is now back home and his health is improving).
• More than anything, it meant seeing Mackinley spend time with her Great-Grandparents and Great-Great-Grandparents…there are not many opportunities for them to see her. There aren’t many families lucky enough to have FIVE generations alive and healthy and ANY opportunity I get to take her to Utah I feel blessed. She is building memories and experiences that are priceless. Those, as well as photos and videos, are the best I can do when we live out-of-state. My next mission is to take her mom, my daughter Kira, on our next trip home.

I’d love to hear from you…even if you don’t have an official “winter break,” what does a visit HOME mean to you?