To home educate just to avoid school holidays (light-hearted...ish)

[hibiscuslightening]

This half term has nearly driven me to breaking point. Maybe it’s the weather? Or less people round here have gone away but everytime we have left the house to go for a trip or to an attraction it has just been an over crowded nightmare.

For example we decided to try our nearest leisure pool - we’ve been before and it was great - on a weekend. They do timed tickets... but after taking 25 minutes to fight for a car parking space. We then had to queue for a changing cubicle and then spend out allocated 90 minutes bumping into people in the over crowded pool. When the wave machine went on it was like this picture!

The basic experience has been repeated everywhere we’ve been. I have been a SAHM but was planning to return to work - as a teacher, so would be stuck with school holidays for good!

AIBU to think about not going back to work and instead homeschooling my DCs just so we can avoid the hell of visitor attractions in half term?

No.Its just a stock photo for illustrative purposes. No cameras allowed in the pool.

Yeah I hate attractions in the holidays. We do 2-3 term time days out per year so we can actually enjoy things like theme parks.

we HE and hate the school holidays/half terms

we are so used to having our places empty or just toddlers around

Us today trying go to the farm. Couldn't get into the car park at 10.20am I did mutter I hate the holidays as I had very disappointed DC

I took a 4 year old and a 6 month old to the natural history museum yesterday... what a dick head 😂 a wet day in half term at a free, indoor, city attraction aimed at young children!

Even though Dd is at nursery term time only I had slightly forgotten that it was half term and yes I could have actually gone next week and just taken Dd out of nursery for the day.

And it was a waste of time anyway because Dd only wanted to go to see real dinosaurs (not the skeletons).

I feel really guilty but I just can't face taking mine anywhere in half term. I've done it for so many years now. I can't stand the ridiculous crowds, and I do think they've got worse over the years. Between crowds and flooding, we've hardly left the house this week.

This half term has been particularly bad with the weather and the ground already being so muddy.
Any indoor places have been packed. I think Feb half term is one where not so many go away on holidays. This is probably the worst school holidays. The next ones won't be so bad because if it's dry people will spread across more attractions.
And people go away at Easter and May when they don't have to use so much annual leave because of the bank holidays.
Also as your children get older they will be less phased by the crowds. We've been to 3 different soft play venues this week and my kids have run in and played, no tears, no problems. A few years ago I would have avoided them in holidays as my kids would be too scared of the big kids to leave the table.

I took my 2 under 5's to our usual (smallish) soft play yesterday. I always go fairly early anyway and leave at lunch time to either get a maccies or go home. It was pretty full in there but when we left they were queuing to get in with at least 60 people waiting, probably enough to fill every table over again!

I live in belfast and we fly to my parents in england as most of time school holidays are different at least by a few days so can do things in relative peace