Parents: Planning keeps vacation boredom at bay

LYNN – They packed plenty to do into April vacation week, but parents like Adela Avila said making time away from school fun means juggling work schedules, predicting spring weather and tugging kids away from computers.?It?s so hard,” Avila said as she took time Wednesday to enjoy a children?s concert at the Lynn Public Library with 8-year-old Alex.Like most kids his age, Alex enjoys riding his scooter and bicycle and spending time online or playing video games. Adela Avila took this week off from work to ensure her son also spent time outdoors and doing activities he normally does not get a chance to enjoy on school days.She organized a park play date with Alex?s friends and signed up for an event at Boston?s central library in Copley Square – but only after a brief battle with her son over vacation computer time.Like Avila, Nicole Kinney also juggled work schedules and put a lot of time into planning for vacation week in order to keep Dylan, 5, and Charlotte, 2, outdoors and beyond the clutches of boredom.?We make sure we get out of the house once a day,” she said.Attending Wednesday?s performance by local guitarist/singer Anthony Migliaccio was a “last-minute” decision that allowed Kinney to plan a fun activity on a rainy morning.?I looked on Facebook,” she said.The children?s room in the library?s basement attracts children and parents throughout vacation week, said librarian Sue Cronin. She said families reserve the library?s Boston museum discount passes two months in advance of vacation week and plan visits to the aquarium and Museum of Science.?A lot of families are looking for activities,” she said.Cronin has crafts projects and coloring books at the ready during vacation week and she also plans for warm weather vacation days.?I?ll bring a ball from home and they can play on the lawn,” she said.Magda Toc spent part of vacation week helping her daughter, Amy, prepare to take annual state comprehensive assessment tests. The third-grader “scored a little low,” according to her mother, the last time she took the test.Toc juggled her full-time work schedule and weather forecasts to maximize test preparation time with Amy while planning fun things to do – including Wednesday?s concert attended by about 40 parents and children.Like Kinney, who planned a Friday trip to the zoo in Boston for her children, Avila organized a roller skating outing for her son and even planned something fun to do during the weekend.?I don?t want him to stay in front of the TV or the computer,” she said.