Opinon/By JEANNIE RITCHIE

Students were out of school Monday and Tuesday for Mardi Gras break. The weather had turned colder so there wasn’t a lot of outside movement in Rapides Parish. I was disappointed; I was on a search for a playdate disguised as journalism.

I covered a cheer clinic but only got about five minutes of play time myself during the session break. I was determined to use that stunt stand to stick the lib the other girls had just taught me.

I had a hard time finding someone else to play with after that. I went by parks and the zoo. Nobody was moving around much, young or old. Unseasonably warm February days had spoiled us; the cold sending most people back indoors.

I did find some new friends at the local theater. Rylee and Braylen were going to see Aquaman with their parents.

Explaining my predicament of being all laced up with nowhere to play, I asked what they’d been doing all day.

Rylee: Nothing at all.

Braylen: I played with toys.

Me: That’s it?

Both: Yeah.

Me: There were no screens or anything?

Rylee: (animated) Oh there were screens. (Her hands gesture dramatically.) So many screens.

I love her; my grown friends laugh at my dramatizations. It was nice to hang with someone equally enthusiastic. Laughing I bid them farewell as we hurried to catch the beginnings of our films.

I reached out to mom friends online for my story.

“Hey! What are y’all doing with your kids over break?”

One answer was relatable and real. “Answering the phone at work every five minutes bc the (older) one is watching the (younger) one and they can’t stop fighting.”

I laughed and asked for permission to quote her. It’s the norm in Rapides Parish; parents rely on older siblings to care for younger ones. This is why the district switched the school start times between the elementary and the high schools a couple of decades ago. Parents needed the older siblings to get home first.

My kids were all close in age so they usually had the same start times. But that didn’t stop the demotion derby style conflicts on teacher work days when they were left home alone.

Holidays can provide added stress for parents, regardless of situation. I have no solution other than to remind parents their pugilistic children won’t be young forever and to just enjoy them because, like the Trace Adkins song, one day You’re Gonna Miss This!

Pictured above: Rylee Robinson, 9, and brother Braylen, 8, enjoy a family outing over Mardi Gras break  

Jeanni Ritchie is a former educator and frequent referee of four children and eleven grandchildren.