Am I overthinking how crap my kids summer is

Sounds amazing just add in some easy stuff at home. Baking, teaching them to cook, jigsaws, playing board games and card games (get thw neighbours kids in too if helps), doing a mystery game, watching a good TV show together...

I want to add:
I don’t get on with my mother, we don’t even talk now. But one of my nicest memories were the summer holidays where me and my siblings sat in her bed, watching her tiny bedroom tv with On The Buses playing. It was a simple thing that cost nothing .

Why don’t you do things together?
-Cooking a themed night?
-Movie day
-Crafting

Im disabled so can’t do very much at the best of times. But I find things I can do with my daughter at home that are low energy for me

They've got friends to play with, and your having a break away you've got more than some .

Absolutely agree.

Playing out front and having some friends over sounds great. You and your kids are lucky to live somewhere kids play out at all. They're old enough to understand that you can't do stuff with them on account of your ankle - as others have said, just make your peace with this just being how it is this summer and working with it as best you can.

My childhood summers were like this. Mum didn't drive and day trips weren't really a thing. We did go on holiday.

My own kids ' summers were like this too. I drive, but didn't have access to a car when they were little.

Lots of playing out is good for friendships, creativity and social skills.

It's really good for DCs to be bored. Stop them using computers etc. Let them go outside and play for much longer. This weather is better than continuous rain! They will find imagination and freedom is so much better. They will have to get used to the new normal.

Can you play board games with them?

We had crap parents who neglected us and were cared for by my grandad who one summer broke his leg. He spent the summer teaching us to gamble, blackjack, roulette you name it we played it. When the pain got too bad we’d fetch him a whiskey then he fall asleep. I think it was the most cared for I’ve ever felt.

They’ve got a mindful mother and their own home. Don’t fall down the social media hole and think everyone is entertaining their kids all day. They’re not. Not going to school is a holiday.

I had the same a couple of years ago. One thing that worked for us is that national trust places have mobility scooters you can borrow when you get there, so you don't need to worry about transporting yours. Other attractions also often have them, we just happen to have passes and a few places that were easy to get to, so my kids spent a lot of that summer in their playgrounds.

We feel super guilty when things like this happen cos we always want the best for them and to be happy all the time and busy , but life is like that , it has ups and downs and I think in a way it's good for kids to learn that so it's not a shock later in life. Plus I do think after a while they learn to do other stuff with their time when they get bored - play about on an instrument , learn a new skill etc etc. would they play board games with you if you had some fun ones?

It’s a one off summer. No big deal. Not a sign of deprived childhood.

Maybe a trip somewhere in an uber would break up the week? Or can you see if they can go to friends for a day or so? Can your husband take some annual leave?

Are you off work sick? Can they do some holiday clubs if that’s what they would normally do?

Hi op you can’t really help the situation you are in it might be crap but you need to look after yourself also is it not best it’s now rather than if they were in school. I understand you getting low and feel guilty being stuck in is horrible but the kids are doing both and might even like the flexibility of being in and outside. Hope you feel better soon.

It sounds like a perfect summer: true 'down time' for them. When I was that age, I loved reading books all day, watching crap TV and playing with neighbours.

The only thing I'd do differently is decrease screen time with these activities (plus any others you fancy):

Ask DH or someone to take them to the library and designate some reading time each day. Studies show it makes a huge difference to read on paper - even kindle is not as good b/c something about screens makes brains work differently. Also, to concentrate fully, screens/devices should be in a different room - just having them nearby disrupts concentration. (google it if you think I'm being a Luddite)

Also, they should be helping you around the house - this is a great way to start habits that will last: emptying/loading dishwasher or washing up; laundry (with your advice/supervision); unloading/stowing any grocery deliveries, any other tidying you require. If they cannot cook basic meals, now is the time to teach them that too whilst you supervise from a kitchen chair.

You can blame your foot now but in a few weeks, they'll be fully trained, helpful for the camping holiday, and you can reap the benefit for ever more!! Plus it's great learning for them.

Social media is full of shit. So much pressure. Bollocks to keeping up with the Joneses and the consumer culture.

They're playing. They’re safe. They’re relaxing.

Look after yourself.

Can you do a few other things inside?
Baking something like cookies, get all the Lego out and help them build something crazy, set up art station at table one day, etc.. so they aren’t just on games or outside front.

Can you get a taxi to somewhere that had disabled mobility scooters hire? I know lots of museum and zoos or similar have option to pre book one and hire for about £10 a day.

Sounds like my childhood summers in the 2000s

Sounds like my childhood summers in the late 80’s, early 90’s. Nothing wrong with that at all! I’m nostalgic for “playing out”. It’s nice to hear some kids still get to do it.

Honestly theirs sounds like an idyllic summer to me ☺️ playing with the neighbourhood kids is how I spent all my summers and I really miss those simple days .

sorry about your ankle OP

I got an ankle scooter (rented) when I was non-weight bearing. Gamechanger for getting out and about. But you shouldn't feel guilty - hardly your fault!

Given the choice I expect you'd rather not be laid up with a leg in a boot....especially in this weather, but nothing you can do about that except follow advice and make sure you elevate that leg.

Your DC will be fine, they're entertaining themselves and learning that boredom isn't necessarily a bad thing, while resting, playing, not rushing from here to there.

Hanging out with their friends and doing their own thing isn’t the end of the world they have a holiday to look forward to in a few weeks so it's not as though they've nothing to look forward to and time will rattle by.

You may also feel a bit better by then, but TBH I'd just drag the need for the wheel chair and a chauffeur out for the duration of the holiday.