Do you actually enjoy the school summer holidays?

[KrayKray00]

Because I don't. I dread it. The thought of it makes me so sad

And I know it is a horrid thing to say! My DS only broke up this afternoon and I've already shouted at him yes, I feel awful about it I know I'm terrible

I have a 6yo and 2yo and all they do is bang, yell, shout, fight and bicker. They are so loud, the walls are thin enough you can hear a fart through them so I bet the neighbour hates me as it is.

We are going abroad for two weeks which I am looking forward to but the rest of the holiday at home I am dreading. OH/Dad works mon-sat and I am a student so I'm off too. I cannot afford day trips out to nice places, and I am even worrying about feeding them a mixture of food rather than a sandwich for lunch every single day without breaking a budget - 6yo is "fussy" no pasta or rice...

All the summer clubs are sports or arts related which my 6yo isn't a fan of and I've had to cut nursery hours back to one day a week as I can no longer afford it (whilst I am at home)

All the other Mums were really happy the holidays are here and I just smiled with envy. How?! Why?

What do you do to break the days up, keep them occupied? Do you enjoy the holidays? Surely I can't be alone

Maybe the point is that some children (and adults) do much better with a routine and so find the holidays hard. Or any of a multitude of other reasons.

Or that having a moan / discussion is often therapeutic and doesn't mean you are not grateful for your children. Not enjoying your children every second of every day doesn't make you a bad parent or that having them was pointless!

I genuinely love the summer holidays. I work term time only so six weeks off work to spend with my kids is amazing. I plan and save a long time ahead of the summer so I have plenty booked to do, a few mini breaks and days out which I paid for months ago so it doesn't feel so expensive. I have a few annual passes for things so we can do some cheapish days out. No rushing out in the morning, no busy evenings of a thousand clubs. I live for the summer!

My 2 year old is term time only at childminders and Im dreading 6 weeks off :(

I hate my own company, so without other adults around for stimulating conversation I find summer holidays pretty wearing too (DC9 and DC3) and also pregnant so can't even look forward to a glass of wine at the end of the day!

Gonna make a bit more effort this summer though - there's been some great suggestions on here, just need to get my arse in gear!

And thefuture your comment is a little bit mean. Some parents (i.e. Me) have quite difficult DC (adhd) and find their constant company challenging... doesnt mean we don't love them or want them (in answer to your 'what's the point?') We're only human!

There's always one poster on every thread who has to be nasty. Take no notice of thefuture, as others have said, there's nowt wrong with having a little moan.
Some people like the routine of term time, some dc find weeks without much structure quite difficult, and then it becomes more difficult to keep them happy all the time.

Fuck off thefutureis

Love all these lists of fun stuff to do....with little ones.
Can anyone come up with a list for a bored 15 year old ds who hates all sports ( so no swimming, riding bike, football camp etc) and has few friends nearby?
We have a swingball game in the garden and a table tennis table in the shed, but the endless pissing rain up here has put paid to both of those most days.

Do most of you not work or only work term times? For me the holidays are the same as normal only with the added stress of organising childcare and trying to work from home on days we don't have childcare. And the guilt when you see other families all going out for nice days together.

demented, I will try to think...

iwould, I work but only two days a week. Has screwed my career but certainly makes holiday childcare easier.

Dementedma - I'd be asking him to learn some skills. Cooking springs to mind, give him a cuisine / item a week and ask him to perfect it. He can then do the research and planning and watch videos on how to do it.

I'd also look for coding workshops / online tutorials and get him into that. Awesome skill to have and really valuable. Look on Allison or Future Learn type sites for free courses.

I work 28 hours from home around the kids.

Yes to Fridge's ideas! Or learn (obviously make a start only!) a language, if he wants to of course. Cooking is a great idea as it is not like you are setting him 'homework', more of a life skill. Works for all levels of ability at cooking could do with improving my own cooking

Thanks fridge. He does do some baking and helps me with dinner when I get in. Will look at those courses, good idea. Have also asked him to make a birdtable from scraps of wood but its beginning to sound as if he's planning a 30 storey hotel rathen than my idea of a flat bit of wood on a pole, so I'm not holding out any hopes of that happening any time soon.

I'm a SAHM to a 3.5yr old and 6.5yr old. I was kinda dreading it as my two can wind each other up a lot. Hoping this year will be easier now ds2 is that bit older.

I agree with others re: planning your week out. I'm planning lots of play dates with Friends (take it in turn to host), library events, we're National Trust members so will go to local places for picnics if this fucking weather cheers up!

If you find it hard and struggle it's because it can be hard. My dh is out of the house 8-6 Mon-Fri and away quite a bit with work too. Some days are long, and my kids don't sleep in later than 6.30/7am so there's no lie-ins to look forward to yet.

Some great suggestions on here. Apart from thefuture's post which was just rude.

I have one aim over the summer...to get my dc more competent at food prep/cooking (we obviously will do other stuff but this is my one summer plan).

They're 9 and 7 so nothing drastic...but we've started with them making their own lunch every day so making various sandwiches, chopping up salad, making scrambled or boiled eggs and opening tins/heating soup.

They do this sometimes anyway but not often enough that it's not still hugely frustrating at the snails pace of it...I want them to be able to do it as quickly and efficiently as I do.

Also some basic meals like rice and pasta dishes and how long to cook veg for and so on.

Business as usual here ... kids at holiday club..I love the no traffic.

Ooh Flanders that is a great idea! My DD9 is always badgering me to do cooking (which isn't in the slightest bit fun for anyone as she has spd issues so can take forever between the hand washing!) And cooking for her means cakes and biscuits but I did suggest that she should be trying to make savoury/lunch type things so maybe we'll aim for making her own sandwiches by end of hols! Thanks!

Oh and iwould I work at a university so term time only. I finish when the students finish, it's bloody brilliant childcare wise, I have to say. (Part-time salary to match, of course)

I absolutely love it with my older kids but it was harder when they were little. I still loved it, but it was exhausting. I find breaking up the day by getting out makes all the difference. Play parks (tour all your local ones), swimming, running at the woods etc etc.

No shame in letting them watch some TV and a sandwich for lunch is fine! Have it out somewhere as a picnic.

Flanders I'm doing similar. Getting DC to help out and increase their independence.

Also aim to go out each day even if just a walk to the shop or playground.

I'm very lucky to live in Cornwall so we have beaches virtually on our doorstep, although actually we didn't go much last summer. DD8 loves to be outdoors so we go on picnics, bike rides etc. She used to enjoy Forest School but went off it. We still go to the woods as we've recently got into geocaching. She loves art & craft & there are several things going on locally but not always that cheap so we'll go to a couple then do lots of projects at home. I want to do some "proper" cooking, teach her some skills. We'll probably have a couple of nights camping locally. I have a great group of friends at DD's school so there will be a few meets. Not sure about playdates as we're putting the house on the market & trying to keep it extra tidy for viewings. Then there's swimming (only me & DH to pay for as DD has membership), a few things at the library which are free or very cheap, sleepovers at Grandma & Grandad's, possibly some gardening projects if we move before September. DD is desperate for a den (she has my Mum & Dad's summerhouse) so we are starting to think of ideas for that & again if we move, we can work on one. Hope you have a great summer!

I can't stand the holidays, my middle child who's 11 has Downs Syndrome and hates the lack of routine from not being at school. We can't take him anywhere because everything is so busy and he can't cope with it. So I spend 6 weeks stuck indoors with him and our 20 month old watching crap films on Netflix and climbing the walls!

I love the school holidays, we're lucky to live in London so we have a load of free activities on our doorstep, and we're also fortunate to be able to pay for more expensive activities too. I don't work and my dcs are night owls so we can be more relaxed about bedtimes and we all get a lie in most days. We also get on well and enjoy each other's company, but the dc can self-occupy as well, so if I'm feeling lazy I can stay home with a box set and they just play on their own. I only cook a few days a week and the rest of the time we have cold lunches or I batch cook so we just heat up leftovers from last night's dinner.

Is it mainly teachers then that like the hols?

I like my actual holidays, but the rest of it is juggling ds to different holiday clubs as DH and I both work FT. I'm home based, so now ds is 11 he can amuse himself while I work to an extent, but am away for a week from Friday for work which adds to the juggling. No grandparent/family help and his friends parents work FT too so no swaps possible.