Am officially sick of the school holidays now

[Dawnybabe]

And she's only 4

Have utterly had enough of dd1 today. She's been a pain in the arse all day. She's had the tele on, she's been out in the paddling pool, we've done some colouring in, baking, had nanny round for a bit and dd1 has still managed to be disruptive, disobedient, downright bloody cheeky and just thoroughly piss me off. And now she's managed to cover dd2 in Vix. How the hell do you get that stuff out of hair?

I'm not exactly sure where I've gone wrong today. I'm telling her till I'm blue in the face and she's either ignoring me or disobeying me the minute my back is turned. If I can't get her to do as she's told now how the hell will I manage her when she's older?

YABU, you should be grateful of all this quality time, children are a joy and you're BLESSED so count your blessings you ungrateful cah.

YANBU, I feel the same and my youngest is 3 and I'm used to having him around every afternoon whilst the eldest is at school, but OMFG bring on September... please....hurry. I've run out of 'funtime' funds and the kids flat refuse to do another nature walk.

Don't you know you're supposed to be able to entertain a small child on thin air for 24hrs without going demented?? Tsk! I played hide and seek today, for my sanity, I hid in the wendy house and had a cigarette, just to feel a little rock and roll. Mwahaha.

Move to Scotland. Termtime has begun and all your problems would be over.

I should add, the children weren't in the garden, I'd told them that the rule was 'inside hiding only' - so I'm a liar AND a cheat as well as a dirty smoker... but, result, 20 minutes of peace.

I feel your pain. ds is 4 and has been alternately horrendous and lovely for the last week. Doesn't help that we're on holiday and he's being taken out for all sorts of lovely treats and trips - all he does is whinge, complain and strop. Until I lose it with him . Bring on school! But he doesn't start full time until the 3rd week of Sept aarrrgghh over 3 more weeks to go!

Oh Aldi you've really cheered me up.

We've also got a wendy house.

We've also got a garage with a loft conversion and a locking door.....

Jo Wotzit Extreme parenting is on right now. I am taking notes.

NOOOO! Don't listen to Jo wotsit, she's just scary... my advice is to throw out the rule book, cheat and have fun :)

Can I throw out the children instead?

Still can't get that bloody Vix out.

Not wanting to hijack but when my dd did this, I put conditioner in her hair (whilst it was dry), left it for a few minutes and then rinsed and rinsed and then shampooed. It was really greasy for a few days, but it worked.

Oh and I'm looking forward to the end of the hols also, although dd is at camp this week and I'm at work so it's not too bad. For some reason I decided to travel to my MIL's for the final weekend though - what was I thinking?!

You're lucky the Vick's only went in her hair and not her eyes

We have been back a week and a half and I am fed up of trying to get them out the door in the morning, the grass is always greener

I think she's spoilt.

I bought her a new coat for school and showed it to her this morning. I think she thinks she gets whatever she wants however she behaves. Need to strengthen that 'naughty = loss of privileges' vibe.

8 weeks 8 longs weeks - oh and 2 days of it we had but they finally went back yesterday!! Never seen so many happy faces at the school gates. The first 7 weeks didnt seem so bad but my go someone stoped the clock for that last week:)

We have had eight weeks, and have two more to go. I am going insane. I have not had a child-free second since 1st July. At least the Vicks wasn't Vaseline.

Yep, I'm with seb1. I much prefer the holidays to the brushyourteethbrushyourteethBRUSHYOUR TEETHputyourshoesonputyourshoesonputyourshoesonFORTHELOVEOFGODPUTYOURSHOESON we have onc ethe schools are back.

Mine have been back a week and I miss the wee guys.

I am on the other side. I love the school holidays- that's because I work in a school. My DD's are teenagers now, so it is great. When my DD's were young I also had some frustating days. One of my favourite pass times was going to try different parks twice a week, a radius of 15 miles, with a picnic. A change of scenery was good for me as well as my DD's. They never got bored. Different swings/slides/climbing frames etc., and a different bench for me. It worked for my DD's. They always remembered their favourite parks, so when they started playing up, I could use their favourite park as a friendly fret. It worked. it got me through a few 6 weeks holidays over a few years. Good luck.

Double edged sword for me , i am ready for the kids to go back but that means the end of my hols to.
I have loved the lazy mornings just not the ensuing moan of 'what are we doing today'

I think I'm just being a bad mummy at the moment. I just can't seem to stand having them anywhere near me sometimes!

And now they've found me in the study! Get out!

It's not really warm enough for paddling, my girls seem to operate a degree above everyone else and never feel the cold. I'm not setting foot in it.

I feel your pain - mine have been off school since June 24th, and don't go back until next thursday.

If it's any consolation, it does ease somewhat as they get older.

Feeling you there Boredom has set in for DD now too and shes not back in school til the 6th either. I'm sure the dentist appointment she has the day before she goes back will cheer her up. We've done a lot of library trips too.

Best thing i did was unplug the TV. We went cold turkey and i refused to entertain or tell them what to do. They HAVE to get bored to get past the WALL, when over the boredom wall they find imagination land. Where creativity flows!
( geeez i have gone mad, but anyway)
Seriously, you just have to stop taking responsibility for making the decisions every second of the day. Just say 'go and play' Dont boss them and dont criticise and let them make a mess. Let them be in charge of themselves.

I'm mentally ticking off the days until school starts again (mid September for us)

I currently have two feral, naked children, streaked with red paint and melted ice pops, leaving a trail of destruction and sticklebricks in their wake. It's akin to Lord of the Flies in ELC.

I'm mumsnetting and ignoring practicing the 'Benign Neglect' parenting approach. If I can't see it then it ain't happening