to think summer are great if you have loads of money, and can go away, go.on loads if days out, generally have fab time yet it sucks a bit if your stink

[whiteandyelloworchid]

Skint I mean lol

It's just depressing me as dh has no time off at all. I'm.eight weeks pregnant. Everyone else seems to be going to Florida for three weeks or campingir some such.

I want to have a fantastic time with dd and I am looking forward to.spending the time together but its depressing nit having much spending money

last summer I was on maternity leave - skint with a 3yo and a new baby.

I just made sure we got out every day. We visited every park around, hooked up with friends, walked, went to museums (we are lucky enough to live near a few and they are free), got to some Kids AM films (£1.25 pp). We spent a day on the Thames hopping on and off the Clippers (pay for adults only - it was about £11 for an entire day).

We took drinks & packed lunches wherever we went and we had a ball. It wasn't as wet as this year has been but it wasn't a great summer either. We didn't go away. Wish I was doing the same this year.

Swimming - our local pools are cheap & kids are free though the next borough are way more expensive. British Gas are running a swim for free promo ATM - google it. You don't have to be a customer

The cliche that the best things in life are free...

Well I took my kids to a great and expensive softplay yesterday as they broke up a bit earlier than the other schools in that area, and we have never been there due to the prohibitive prices. We paid off peak prices and could stay all day so we got good value. Anyway, suffice to say it was a Very.Big.Treat. Today was a stay-at-home-all-day-and-get-dressed-at-midday. Ds1 (6) was playing with lego and ran to tell me, "This is the best day of the holidays so far Mum. I get to destroy all my lego things and make new ones. Wow!" . What I thought was such a fab treat was nice and they enjoyed it, but watching loads of TV and playing lego was a bigger treat.

Go somewhere new on an 'adventure'. This could just be another part of town or a new park. Picnics (weather providing). I have booked ds on a week of swimming lessons which was 20quid, but cheaper if you are on benefits. He gets to go swimming every day and I don't have to!

Can your DD ride a bike yet? If not, this is the summer to learn - and if she can, this is the summer where you and she go on lovely long bike rides, with a picnic in the middle.

all she like doing is riding her scooter rather than her bike, she gets fed up on her bike as she likes to bomb along.

Where are you OP? Council run holiday activities. One o'clock clubs. Reading scheme for the summer holidays in the library. Park, picnics, train rides, free museums, bus ride to a new park, leaf kicking, farm days. I did a whole summer once on Tesco vouchers for things like: soft play and creepy crawly zoo, river trip, farm trip, etc.. Free City zoos, adventure playgrounds. Indoor hunts finding things that begin with A. Baking, making, glitter, play dates, trip to the beach, river, bug hunting, gardening, planting seeds even if its only cress.

It's what you make of it.

Best summer I ever had was when we were really skint, playing in the garden with water bombs and having water fights with buckets and cups!

You dont hav to have money to have fun and appreciate the weather. It helps but it's not be all and end all

Thanks for the. Pep talk,I'm changing my attitude tomorrow