"fucking school holidays !"

[mrsfuzzy]

have just heard the gentle tones of my neighbour with her two young dcs, they broke up yesterday ! how does anyone manage nowadays ? are more dcsgaming/indoors or do people actually take dcs out ? years have gone by since i did this stuff and i'm out of touch

I love them.

Yes, they piss me off with their arguing and sometimes my stress levels are high but I love not having the usual routine, no early mornings for them and just spending time together.

I do work part time and dh is a SAHD so no child care issues. Four more shifts then 10 days off.. I can't wait!

I'm quite lucky because I live somewhere touristy where there are a lot of free or cheap things going on over the holidays for children. So holidays are a bit more expensive than term time, but not hugely so. There's a mostly free festival within a short walk of my house next week with lots of events and shows for children, so that will make up the bulk of our trips out for five days, and we can take packed lunches.

I love the school holidays, especially now that mine are teenagers and don't need childcare. They plan activities with friend when I'm working, when I'm on leave we do stuff together. This coming week I'm taking them to a stately home (one of DD1's friends is desperate to go, has never been to one because her parents aren't interested so we are taking her. She's a sweetheart) and to Woburn (taking one of DD2's friends). We are also going clothes shopping and doing a lot of relaxing.

Lovely post MrsD

Well said MrsD

Really well said MrsDeVere.

Very much so MrsDeVere, after reading your post I am wondering if I should go old school and have a social media holiday for 6 weeks too, be interesting to see if I feel slightly less crap about what we're spending the summer hols doing. I hope your DS settles and enjoys the holidays.

Mine have over 7 weeks off! I love the school holidays as the routine is easier, especially when I'm working (although I'm usually ready for them to go back in September!)
We are going away for 3 weeks and the rest is a mixture of days at home, days out and summer clubs when I'm working

My dc's are 16, 12 and 11. I fecking hate the holidays because of the state the house ends up in - it makes me resentful and tired, especially this year when I'm working more than usual (I work evenings and weekends mostly).

I'm not house proud or finicky about my home, but a few days into the holiday and it really looks like a full-on slum. The kids are old enough to help but they don't, not without nagging, and that creates a bad atmosphere.

Mrs De Vere for President! In my family we don't have to pay for childcare, my husband is around for a large chunk of the holidays due to the seasonal nature of his work, I work 16 hours a week from home, we have a very nice holiday booked for 2 weeks in Spain, we have plenty of money, my children don't need constant supervision (but are harder to entertain than young kids) and I STILL find the holidays a bit tedious. Its partly because I never get more than a few hours alone and I genuinely do find that extremely difficult. Apologies for misery plopping but I thought Mumsnet was an open forum for everyone.

I work full time and have my two nieces every weekend. I try to make it up to my dd when I can. She has spent two weeks at a summer camp, went to a theatre show,a street performance festival, we have had a cinema day, a sleepover with friends and last night she lost a tooth so we had a tooth fairy party with her cousin. Today I will take them to a family fun day at our local park. tomorrow I will be back to work and she will be shuffled around between friends and family for the week. Working full time as a single parent sucks I feel so guilty.

I like the summer holidays. I work term time so don't have childcare issues. I used to love them when my children were younger but now they're 15 and 12 it's very different. DD 15 often is meeting friends etc which leaves DD12 a bit lonely so we try to do things together. So far we have gone swimming and to the country park but only been off since Thursday. Any ideas for this age group as DD15 is either out or glued to phone.

I find summer holidays hard. I'm not very sociable, and none of us like change.

We stumble and bumble along, but we're usually quite relieved when September comes tomrescuenusnfrom each other:o

I'm sure summer holidays are fun for those who don't have to work, have free childcare, money to spend on days out, live near a beach, own a car to be able to take them places etc....We're àway for 2 weeks of it but I feel under tremendous pressure for the rest of the time...

I do think children need a summer break and it must be great if you have lots of kids who get on and lots of help from immediate and extended family - in which case what's not to like - not being sarcastic here

The difficulty is there will always be those that fall outside of the norm - eg single parent, those with one child, those with no family support, those with children with SN or similar, those who find it difficult to access friendships with others with children, those that cannot afford holidays or fun childcare, - and for them yes it must be difficult

If you are in a relatively fortunate position - don't be self indulgent and moan - but equally I do think we need to accept not everyone is a fortunate position

Gingeete I have exactly the same problem.

I have to plan days out as well.
2 of our 5DC are autistic,our DS14 his autism isn't as extreme as his little sisters DD8 she has to be pretty much out of house doing something every single day so that I can try and keep some harmony for our 4 other DC.

Love love love the summer holidays. My schedule prepare a lucky dip of things they want to do. Mostly inexpensive or free. Yesterday we went to the local park and played in the stream with their water shoes on and had a picnic. Some days they just paint the garden. Literally. We will do sundae making, adventuring, puddle splashing and snail hunting when it rains.

I love bits of the Summer holiday, but hate how it highlights the difficulties of day to day life.

Dh can't have any time off this holiday, and I don't drive, so we are a bit limited by that. But more difficult is the differences in needs of the kids. Dd1 (10) is entering stroppy tweenagedom, where everything is greeted with a grunt, dd2 (9) tries desperately to make everybody happy and when it goes tits up she retreats into herself, ds (6) is disabled he struggles with change, lack of structure, sensory stuff and screams an approximation of 'UNFAIR' at 5 minute intervals.

It will be ok, but the pressure to keep everyone happy, make things fair, stop the house descending into a shit tip, keep on top of things like ds's speech therapy, stretches etc.....oh and I have college work too (yay!), well sometimes it all gets too much.

MrsDeVere, you are so right, but it can be a double edged sword - sometimes coming on to a whingey thread here, or moaning on FB are the only things that keep me sane. But if anyone comes on to tell me to just go and bake cupcakes/jump in puddles/organise a bug hunt......I. Will. Explode. All. Over. The. Internet.

I find them hard. Ds needs constant supervision and has challenging behaviour when anxious. He also can't cope with other children so most of the little provision there is for children with disabilities, he can't cope with. When dh or another adult is available we can get him out to places we are fairly certain are going to be quiet but otherwise we mostly stay home with occasional walks locally if I feel up to the meltdown and aggression.

Not a fan here. LP and I have to work. So I've got to listen to whinging about holiday club and try and stick to a routine so the house doesn't descend into chaos. I've booked them something almost every weekend and day I'm off to try and keep the peace.

dixie that's why I won't buy mine a pool. I'd have to be lifeguard all summer.