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Spring Break Done Right

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By Dawn Zamanis

Published: March 29, 2007

At first, it felt strange dropping a few of my kids off at the YMCA on the first morning of spring break. After all, I had really never dropped my kids off anywhere. I have worked from home for years while the kids were in school, so the whole daycare idea was foreign to me at best.

I used to see mothers in sweats and T-shirts dropping their kids off at daycare or the Y while I was on my way to either work or school. I always wondered why they were dropping off the kids, since they weren't headed to work themselves. I thought it was utterly selfish, that they were going home to chat on the phone or watch soap operas. And the women who were planning their escape back to the workforce before they had even given birth, they were well beyond my comprehension. If that was the case, why bother having kids at all?

Then I realized that what was strange was being the sole caregiver of five sons under the age of 14 without a respite for the past five years. Not only was it strange, it was unbalanced and exhausting. And it might not have been so difficult if life was relatively normal. But it wasn't. Three of my kids have major health issues that I tend to on a daily basis. And then there's my health, which I won't get into now.

Eventually I started looking for help, and I found it in two amazing women at Burns Middle School – you know who you are, ladies. They hooked the boys up at the YMCA camp and, thanks to them, life is bordering on normal once again. I am ever so grateful to those ladies for their help. This year, spring break is actually a break, and not just for me, but for the boys, too – from one another.

Granted, I still have to drive five kids all over the place all different times each day, as well as play housekeeper, referee, psychologist, personal shopper, bookkeeper, wardrobe assistant and cook. But at this very moment, I am less two kids who are happily camping at the Y. And the difference between five kids and three is unfathomable - I just never realized it. And they are having the time of their lives.

Many people say to me, "I don't know how you do it." Now that I see what it feels like to have only three kids who are basically self-sufficient at home, I don't know how I do it either. And I say that with all graciousness.

From now on, I'll take the pats on the back and the sparkling compliments on my feats as well as the disapproving comments about my teen's less-than-admirable behavior. I'll even take the praise about my kids' good deeds and the gaping looks I get when I walk into the supermarket with five boys in tow, two of whom are considerably taller than me. I'll deal with the lunacy that has become my existence and the frenzied collaboration of testosterone that equals the single greatest accomplishment of my adult life - being a single mother.

In the face of major personal trauma, I have plowed through.

Where do I get my inspiration from? First and foremost my kids. Without them, I'd be just another woman. But because of them, I am more than I ever thought I could be.

And then there is this great Web site that I found by chance. Those of you who are devoted readers know I am no computer person -- give me an old black rotary phone and a tape recorder over the Internet any day! The site is called www.unstoppable.net. Personally, it has been a great source of inspiration to me. Each day a motivating quote is sent to my inbox. They are not corny or trite, which is why I benefit from them as much as I do. The fact that they are automatically sent to me makes life easier, too-anything I have to physically search for is an automatic disincentive!

I urge you to sign up for these daily reminders of how anything is possible if you don't give up. And if you need further incentive, talk to any mother who has survived spring break – or summer vacation – with several offspring. Yikes!

Dawn Zamanis is a Valrico resident and the mother of five sons. She has been a freelance writer for national magazines and news publications and can be contacted through thebrandonnews@mediageneral.com.

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