It's a holiday and the usual rules don't apply?

[Ojjjjnv]

Inspired by the other thread - if you are on holiday, do the usual rules not apply when it comes to food, screens, activities?

I grew up in Europe where our summer holidays were three months long and I was shipped to the coast for all of them. So usual rules certainly did apply, I had to do my summer homework, not go crazy on the treats etc. Currently on holiday with friends and we really don't go all crazy. In fact, just realised my kids haven't had an ice cream in all this time and we've been here a week

So are you a no rules apply family? Or do you still stick to routines? Is it a class thing in england?

No rules as I also follow no rules on holiday for myself so I will eat and drink what I want when I want. Also it's a holiday I don't want the arguments over things that really don't matter when your talking a week out of a whole year. Like at home I would never let the kids have tablets at the dinner table as on holiday I want a relaxed evening so if their occupied then I can relax. At home they have bed times, on holiday they don't. On holiday they can eat and drink what they like at home they can't.

Our rules get relaxed on holiday.

They have more juice / soft drinks than usual, but I'd rather they stay hydrated in the heat.

Less insistence on eating their vegetables, as they seem to be more fussy about Mediterranean vegetables (madness in my view - surely grilled aubergine & courgette with salt and olive oil is the best veg side ever!)

Computer games on the plane. They are rarely allowed to play at home, as they get addicted really easily (they are still quite young).

Ice cream every day, and sometimes two (e.g. if they bring a free one with dinner)

A bit later bedtime but not loads (we still need some adult time!)

On actual holiday we relax a bit, we do self catering in the UK though so it's not wildly different from being at home! They go to bed later and definitely have more ice cream but probably less screen time because we tend to do active things on holiday.

During the summer holidays they probably go to bed/get up later but so do I when I'm off work. Otherwise it's much the same except with no homework.

Kids generally need and thrive having some sort of routine and boundaries.

Relaxing the rules during holidays is fine but they still need something in place.

My kids are allowed as much screen time as they want BUT... only if they've earned it doing like-for-like minutes of "educational" activities (reading, music practice, duolingo, sport etc...). The kids love this rule and collect "tokens" to put in a screen time pot!

I was surprised on the other thread how many people thought one ice cream a day was mean.

I mean, my DC don't normally have an ice cream every day, so one a day on holiday is a treat. My two oldest are adults and they wouldn't see that as being mean even though they could pay for it themselves now.

We've holidayed with various families over the years and I can't think of any who would have been regularly having more than one. Two would only really happen if they had one as a snack then chose one as pudding when having dinner.

In answer to the original question. It depends on the family and the DC. We don't tend to be very restrictive, so we don't relax much. Later bedtime, fizzy drink with dinner, type things.

But it also depends on the children. I have one who has always self regulated herself well. It would be very easy with her to say we threw all rules out for the holidays because she'd have kept herself fairly close to normal. When we got home she'd have gone straight back to normal rules without a blink.
I have another who would have been up to 2am, only eaten chocolate and would have been very grotty tempered. We'd also have had several weeks of "but why can't I? I was fine on holiday..."
And my last who loves the idea of getting out of routine, but hates the reality (he's got ASD) so would have tried to keep up with his sisters but would become very miserable until he put himself back into routine

I also grew up in a country with a long summer, but for us it was very relaxed and I had a lot of freedom. I remember spending a lot of time reading whilst lying on the patio or the beach.

Our children go to bed late on holiday - basically whenever we do. But otherwise it's pretty much normal! They tend to eat less due to the heat anyway but they will have an ice cream each day. That's similar at home though. If we have ice creams in they can have them. Once they're gone, they're gone!

If he kids are off school but we are at home (most people don't go on holiday the full 6 weeks of summer wtc) theb yes, rules apply. We do still do some learning and homework each day, restrict treats.
If however we go away in a holiday for. Week or 2 then rules are broken for all. We expect to have a proper break and tike for treats.

Two would only really happen if they had one as a BB snack then chose one as pudding when having dinner.

I think that's exactly when two happens! Sun holiday, ice-cream by the pool in the afternoon, and then one for dessert after dinner.

Less likely on other types of holiday, but I think an ice-cream on a day trip and then dessert after dinner wouldn't be unusual.

when we go away for a week on holiday, we relax the rules. Not sure if it is a class thing or why that would be the case though

mine are allowed ice cream on holiday if they want it. They can have pancakes for breakfast and burger for tea. They spend a week on holiday non stop swimming and playing so I don’t mind them eating a bit more crap for a week

When we are away on holiday, rules are very relaxed. But then I don’t have wine every night with dinner normally but will when at a hotel /restaurant every night.

off school holidays, then rules are relaxed a bit, more screen time, later getting up and bedtime, but not completely out of the window.

@Ojjjjnv - did you go away for the whole summer? Not spend any time at home? Most people in the uk go away for one or two weeks of the summer and the rest of the school holidays are at home. The different rules are usually over the travelling part, not the being at home off school part.

Oh and it also varies about what sort of holiday you are on - all inclusive hotel in the sun- help yourself to pudding after lunch and dinner and maybe an icecream mid afternoon.

self catering, I wouldn’t always buy cakes and treats to have dessert after every meal. But if you are eating out at restaurants each night then more likely to let dcs order whatever they want.

Promise we weren't being cruel, the kids aren't that bothered about ice cream. Though I find thar I actually drink and stuff much more when we are at home than away. A lot of our friends go away for the whole summer visiting family and stuff so maybe there is a bit more of an assumption that people are away for longer than usual

Kind of. We allow more treats / ice creams and later bedtimes. We don't allow unlimited screens tho - a bit before breakfast (so we can have a lie in) and a bit after lunch to chill out away from the sun. We are gojng away with a big group this year and some of them are way more relaxed about screens tho so inevitably ours will end up watching more than usual but not gojng to stress about it

I certainly relax my eating / drinking. I don't eat carbs at home but will be eating some pizza and pasta in italy, and will drink cocktails or wine most days

Why on earth would you think it was a class thing? Or are you just trying to be goady?

Yes the different length of time is probably a big contributor. You can relax a lot more for a week or two than a month or two.

I've always just relaxed bedtime and getting up time on holiday, and mealtimes are usually later or more all over the place. Other than that it's more or less business as usual. But I do say that with the caveat that by the grace of god my daughter has always been an incredibly easy kid so iron clad rules have never been necessary, and I appreciate that sometimes chucking the rules out the window for a week can be the best thing for parent's sanity.

Holidays are for doing things that you wouldn't normally do at home, it's the law.
So get stuck into the ice cream, have a Cornetto for breakfast if that's what you fancy, hide the clock and do things at your own pace.
For a week or two, eat, drink and be merry.
But most of all....be spontaneous and have fun 👍

We are currently on holiday in the UK on the south coast, we’ve had an ice cream everyday but we have been making our own lunches they are relatively healthy ans like normal. We have a cottage so have cooked at home 4 nights eaten out 3 to try and balance. We did similar at Easter but no ice cream every day. Abroad like Greece we might have an ice cream every day but we usually go to the shop for snacks and make sure there is always some fruit available and always order salad etc with dinner. Husband usually has 1/2 beers a day rather than 3/4 a week at home. I don’t drink but definitely have more soft drinks then normal but carry a litre of water all day. We treat but definitely don’t go crazy. The 4yo has had ice cream twice a couple times this holiday but mostly as it came with her meal as a pudding but she actually didn’t want it so we all shared it.

We’re more relaxed about food and treats. DS goes to bed around the same time as me anyway.

We try to have a fixed amount of screen time, apart from on the long train journey when all bets are off.

I wouldn't let ds 10 have icecream straight before a meal but apart from that he can do as he pleases pretty much

I was a laid back parent to start with but during the summer holidays more generally and especially away, bedtime is flexible based on what we were doing, treats yes as appropriate but didn't have screens other than tv until they were teens (apart from Nintendo ds) so less of an issue. Don't think it's a class thing, more a parenting style. Mine are adults, well adjusted, got good grades, careers taking off ... my style of parenting must have worked for us - definitely more continental in approach late nights are fine

An ice cream a day, of course!

I can’t imagine buying more per day though, the cost would add up too much. But my kids have never clamoured for sweet stuff (or any food really). They enjoy an ice cream, enjoy dessert if we are eating out (we never really bother at home, too lazy, unless it is a special occasion and we have guests) but I just can’t imagine any of them considering hoovering up lots of ice cream and snacks as a treat.

We are about to go away for a fortnight.
Rules and routines will definitely be more relaxed for those two weeks. We relax and do different things on holiday, so wouldn't want to stick to a strict routine/rules.

That said, my son is 10 and very easy going.

When we are away, we go out and about every day doing things (off to the Austrian alps) like swimming, walking, visiting places, so to be honest, he doesn't ask for screens.

We will be in a hotel so have meals in the restaurant- he loves his food so eats very well anyway and that doesn't change on holiday. He will have dessert/an ice cream every day which he wouldn't at home.

He will just stay up with us in the evening.

I love being able to relax the routines on holiday!

I'm on a city break with DD, we booked quite budget and breakfast was not included, so we got a pack of madeleines and fruit from a supermarket.

When DC were little we were much more lazy flexible about bed times. And often it paid off that they slept in later (I know this is absolutely not the case for all kids)
The first holiday to France we had, DC seem to eat, croissants chips and ice-cream for most of the week. One (uk) holiday DS had burger and chips, at least 5 days out of 7!
All a deviation from normal eating patterns!