‘Twas the First Day of Spring Break

Twas the first day of spring break and all through our town,
The houses were empty – there was no one around.
The families all left on magical trips,
And will spend the next week on beaches or ships.
They will go to great restaurants and come home with nice tans.
They will have more fun than you can count on one hand.
And the stories they tell will be even better.
How they played in the sun while we were stuck in this weather.
At least that’s the story from my teens’ point of view,
How they will be home all week with nothing to do.
So off to the family room with their shoulders slouched,
My teenagers fell with a sigh on our couch.
One brought the chip bag; the other the dip,
The third with the drinks took a very long sip.
I watched with amazement as they all settled in,
To the spring break destination of my favorite kin.
They escaped our world with a flash of their screens,
And pondered the fun of other faraway teens.
I knew I must stop this. They needed some air.
“The sulking is over,” growled mama bear.
“Get off the Xbox, the iPhone, the tablets, too!
No more Minecraft or FaceTime or Netflix for you!”
They looked up from their screens with a face of surprise.
My son scratched his head while the girls rubbed their eyes.
“Are you kidding?” they asked me while cocking their head.
I stared at them in disbelief, but “No,” was all I said.
With a look of defeat, they all handed me their screens.
“What will we do now?” was the cry from my teens.
We were going out. I told them to get dressed.
Our destination wasn’t clear but we set out on our quest.
They stumbled to the car, shouting “Shotgun” on their way.
They argued about who sat there last and then we drove away.
Our first stop was for fuel – not for gas, but for food.
My teens needed the energy to squash their ugly mood.
We headed to the mall. It was a place that they knew well.
The food court provided greasy fries, subs and Taco Bell.
The teenage food did its job. I thought I saw them smile.
We cleaned up, then my daughter asked if we could shop for a while.
My girls tried the latest fashions; my son, the coolest shoes.
He picked a pair of gold high tops and a jersey from Purdue.
The two girls hit the sales racks, flipped through books and smelled each candle.
I didn’t know how much more shopping my teenage son could handle.
I told them it was time to leave, but they stopped at one more store.
We went into a toy shop that I had not seen there before.
My kids scattered down the aisles to find their favorite toys.
The girls hit the aisles of pink, while my son found one just for boys.
On the way home they reminisced about how they used to play.
It had been a lot of years since the toys were packed away.
The teens headed straight to the attic as soon as we got back.
They pulled out Legos, dolls and games until it was all unpacked.
When I headed up to bed that night, their laughter had yet to subside.
Our trip to the mall had done more magic than even Disney could provide.
My teens didn’t need a fancy trip to have a good time together.
The memories from that spring break would last in their hearts forever.