Our Affliction

It all began simply .... a casual mention of the forsithia that was ready to bloom .... the green" fuzz" on a few tree tops, implying leaves would be coming soon .... buds on the lilac bush .... birds of all kinds paying our feeders visits in between gathering nest materials ....

Then came a few "hummmmmm's" whispered longingly over math books. A few gazes out the windows ..... long far-away gazes.Then there was a bit of anxiousness as the school days continued --
"is it time to go outside ?" or "am I finished ?" .... and even more "gazes" out the windows.
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Our Nature Walks, which have been taking 30 minutes or so all winter, begin to get longer and longer, with more Oooooh's and Ahhhhh's .... everyone taking note of the "new" things along the way .... the buds, blooms, and "green" of it all. Instead of doing a nature walk every few days and a journal entry maybe once or twice per week, suddenly every child HAS to do a journal entry NOW, which of course requires a walk .... a longggggggggg walk. And it might take a while to find that perfect something to enter into the journal ... a longggggggg while ... or so they tell me.

And now .... the thought of getting school books out each morning seems torture to the Cherubs. Their eyes and minds can hardly be pulled from the windows .... it takes forever to go out to feed the pets (and the child has to be corraled back into the house afterwards) .... and even while staring intently at their lessons, their minds seem to be clouded with pollen or something ... thoughts of dirt and tree buds, birds sitting on their nests, new leaves, flowers, breezes blowing the grasses ... are the bumble bees out yet ... what is that bird at the feeder .... are we SURE the dogs have enough water .... are there bluebirds in that house .... are there worms for fishing ...

At times I mention needing (after school) to get some work done outside - tilling, weeding, mowing - and I am met with 6 Cherubs willing to "sacrifice" a school day (can you imagine ?!?!) JUST so that they can be of assistance, and so that the "work" can be finished in a timely fashion ... sparing Mom from the labor ....

Hummmmmmmmmmmmm.

The diagnosis is official --- SPRING FEVER. It has completely overcome all 6 Cherubs ... and Mom too I suspect ... no one can concentrate ... the motivation to get schoolwork finished is simply the lure of the outdoors .... to see what is blooming today ... to see if the turtles are sunning on the log yet ... to see if there are butterflies flittering about yet ... to see if there are any new weeds that need to be pulled form the garden (can you believe a child tried to use this as an excuse to finish school early -- to be helpful, so the weeds do not "take over", he assured me -- the purest of intentions - ha !).

We are supposed to get some rain, which will be good for schooling (I hope !) ... perhaps the rain will last long enough to cause the childrens minds to drift back to their studies .... we only have just over 4 weeks left .... but apparently that seems an eternity, or so they tell me.

Beware: Spring Fever may inflict your family too. It is very "catchy" .... and the beginning signs are forsithia blooms, lilac blossoms, the swollen red buds on the Red Buds ... the dogwood blooms ...