Managing a March Break

Here we come! The school kids and university-types are delirious of the impending March break which starts next week, March 18th. And this would include their teachers and professors.

What do people do on their March break, really?
I know that university students rush to Florida, gulp their beer, plunge into the pool and do things their mothers won't approve them doing. Younger people on the other hand, trek to Disney, and those with enough money, fly to the Caribbean with their doting parents, for a swim in the ocean and a lot of buffet eating.

For those with less money, going local is the sane thing do. Here in Toronto, March break is often replete with shows in the area near City Hall, or in what used to be Mel Lastman square up in Yonge street. There would be fun activities all throughout the city - special events in museums, in skating rinks, even in malls.

I keep wondering why there is even a March break; it is supposed to be a break from winter. But why? Spring is just right after it.

I guess those planners who initiated the March Break meant it as a bridge not a break; an occasion to bridge the winter season to the spring. It is a preparation for the season to come (spring) and a goodbye to winter.


Whoever invented March Break must have come from the business family/sector. Why? Because families are forced to spend. Vacation get aways, new vacation clothes, hotels, car rentals, food, drinks, souvenirs all spell out money.


This morning as I drove out, the streets were not as busy and the parking lots , not as full. Then, the news in the radio blurted out that people were already headed out for their March break.


I suppose all parents would love to take their kids on a grand March break, but unfortunately for a lot of families, especially during this recessive times, that is quite impossible to do. And if both parents are working and you're not going away for this special week, you will be left with kids who will be at home for the duration of the break, so you would need to get a baby sitter, or one parent would take a week off to care for the school-age children.


To a lot of people, March break is a welcome respite from the cold and a nice, refreshing way to greet spring. But alas to many, it is also another reminder of the good things being missed out because of lack of resources.


March Break is unknown in many parts of the world, especially in countries where there is no winter. For instance, in the Philippines, March is the start of summer and a signal to the forthcoming end of classes, so it is an especially busy month wherein school exams are taking place, thus no break can be had.


March is also the month in which Lent is usually observed and with it, many special Christian rituals take place. And because Lent leads to Easter, the Easter weekend becomes the March Break in countries such as the Philippines; a joyous event marked by visit to one's original province, seeing relatives and old friends, partaking of fiesta-like food and because it is summertime, taking a dip in the cold river or sea nearby.

And for those moneyed-class, the Holy week and Easter weekend/cum March Break means a trek to the mountain resorts of the North such as Baguio or to the Southern tourist-islands such as Palawan.