To be sick of hearing parents moaning about the summer holidays, minding their kids, not enjoying their kids

[professorsnape]

I've had to up to here with listening to parents moaning about minding their kids, wishing for them to be back to school and out of the house.

Sisters-in-law throwing her eyes up to heaven and sounding jaded when he DD needs a drink/help in toilet/help with a game.

Or friends who just want to keep children quiet by plonking them in front of DVDs, filling them with junk, etc in the hope they'll go off to bed at nighttime.

Look, we've all have off days, believe you me (have DD age 4, 1 year old twin DS) but do we not owe it to our children to have a better attitude, a more positive one? To pretend we have anyway!

FFS, I wish they would roll up their sleeves, switch off the telly, get out in the fresh air, and just enjoy their kids!!!

When they're teenagers and hate our guts we'll regret it!

Rant over

Disclaimer: DD is absolutely no bother and well-behaved.
I work FT and have 2 weeks off with DD over the summer. The remaining 4 weeks I have had requests every day for the cinema/park/days out, followed by the big dramatic sigh when I have to say no because I am working. So I said "We will do these things when I'm off."
So the weeks I am off roll round. All DD wants to do is play with her friends in our garden or theirs
I do spend a significant amount of time throughout the year wishing I was at home more, but then when I am I feel fairly redundant, once the running buffet has closed for business.

Add message | Report | Message poster Chipsycheese Thu 25-Aug-11 20:51:55
Yeah I'd love an hour on my own! I am not saying I wouldn't. I am reminiscing about relaxing in the bath for an hour with a glass of wine, book and a box of chocolates now - a distant memory but oh well! Last time I went for a wee 2 of the kids came in to ask where their shoes were.

My kids are 3&7 and go to bed by 8pm
Plenty of time for a bath in the evening!

Feeling guilty now.. I wish I could give the DC the summers I had, but with no garden or money and work to find/work to do/moving into a flat in September/mean soon to be ex (mean with his time/money)... i think my DC have been very bored . But, I'm sure it won't scar them...

Single parent, one DS - and I'm bloody exhausted, no siblings to keep him occupied so I have been doing "stuff" wih him for what seems like forever. Before he goes back in Spet we are hosting family tomorrow, away camping then down to Wales to see friends then up to St albans or a daytrip to see another friend then birthday arty and a friend visiting us for the weekend before a couple of days to sort uniform out and then an hours peace and quiet sob.

I do all the driving (obviously no DP and DS is a little young yet) and holidays are the perfect time to catch up with friends further afield. But I'm 46, 46 I tell you and I should be knitting socks in an armchair not gadding about the country burning petrol money I don;t have. And I miss my evenings to myself and my darling DS still gets up at 7.30am and I love him, I do, but shoot me I'm human and I'm tired.

God I love MN. It never fails to deliver.

Holidays can be hell. I love my kids but my youngest (5) wakes up at 6 am every single day, they argue about anything pretty much constantly, house is a tip, puppy whines when she isn't in same room as kids, when she is in same room as kids they whine because she pinches their toys to chew.
Finally they go to sleep at 8-9pm by which time I feel like a dish rag having just refereed a 14 hour football game! We have had some great days out, but you can't go out every day.
So yes, by the time I get to September, I'm definitely ready for them to go back to school.I don't think that makes me a bad or unloving mother, just a normal one. Some people love the holidays, some find them tough, people are different you know.

OP, you know what, reading all the responses since last night: it's NOT a competition.
We all do our best, we all want to enjoy our children (I know, I do) and it'll come easier to some than to others.

Today I'm hanging out at Granny's in the rain with a teenager, a tweenager, and a nearly-tweenager.

This thread has reminded me to take pleasures where I can (I think they may be thin on the ground today!).

But I am wondering if OP will be posting in the same way in 6 years time, when her pre-school routine has changed into that of school and term times; and the full impact of the change of tempo between that and the school holidays has entered her home.

I have 3 (7,7 & 6) with no car many days and little money.

So far this hols we've:-

gone camping
blackberry picking
grasshopper catching
painting
baking
countless library visits
kids AM cinema
bit of school work
parks
walks
beaches
fire making
stream dipping
bike riding
visited friends
visited farms
board games

etc,etc

So I had the good attitude and got them out into the fresh air but they still bickered, drove me bonkers at times,it was bloody hard work and I'm done,roll on school.I'm an old codger too. I had a looong struggle for my 3 and all pretty much in one go so I have added incentive to love every minute of the hols ie once they're gone they'll be gone for good in one go.

I have to say in years gone by (the 3 under 18 months year particularly comes to mind)I was done even sooner than this. Some years they were more exhausting,there was less on,we had the car/money even less,1 or 2 of them were particularly hard etc,etc. I can remember the 6 weeks stretching ahead with fear.

If I look back I see a mum with 3 gorgeous longed for babies,living in a beautiful part of the country with in theory an idyllic summer ahead of her,only I know that it wasn't like that.It was seriously hard and I struggled. Basically what I'm saying is all families,circumstances,kids,women,personalities are different and you can't judge anybody on how tough they find things if you haven't experienced their exact deal for yourself.

'"a smug, self-righteous cheerleader" - what a ridiculous oxymoran!'

Smug means self-righteous, how can it be an oxymoron?

"Remember too that you can take under 5s to the park and to jump in puddles, collecting leaves and sticking them in scrapbooks.

Come back and report when you've tried doing that with a teenager."

Oh I am so going to crowbar ds1 (15) away from the xBox and make him come do that today.

I am in the mood for some colourful language.

Sorry.. another guilty one, but I am looking forward to them going back, on the days they weren't at holiday club (I had to work), all they wanted to do was sit playing the Xbox, and I didn't want them to be sitting inside staring at a screen all day, so took them to parks, the beach, fishing etc, and they argued and fought almost continually... they are looking forward to starting back as much as I am, as they miss their friends who are mostly in nearby villages, and can't wait to be the oldest kids in the school (just about to start yr6). Other mums of their class mates have said almost the same thing, so its not just my two!

I am gutted they are back tomorrow. I have enjoyed six weeks of spontaniety,no packed lunches,no getting uniform ready,no doing homework,no strict bedtimes or rushing to the school at 3.I could go on,i love the holidays, i am on mat leave which i admit has helped but i always like them.

hazeyjane I don't think the OP knows what an oxymoron is. Or how to spell it.

I know it's petty and mean spirited to pick on spelling and grammar, but honestly, anyone who exhorts me to "roll up (my) sleeves, (and) switch off the telly" is just asking for it.