To be depressed we are only halfway through the summer holidays

[blackcurrantsuponus]

I know, I’m going to get a load of YABUs as I love this time with my precious children’ but there are still three weeks left, I’m skint and having to muster the enthusiasm for another day out because the alternative is worse!

I realise you say that you don’t want to sound patronising but honestly everyone likes different things. I’m not really a summer person at the best of times, and this summer has been exceptionally challenging!

I do feel like nobody has mentioned that this summer it's been hotter than the surface of the sun anywhere south of Derby. Not nice paddling-pool hot - heatstroke hot.

.... and very often north of it!

Oh yes. Just, my mum and dad are in Yorkshire and there were definitely days where we both had 36 and others where they had cloud and 20. Jealous.

Many of the school kids go back next week. Yippee! This is Leicestershire.

Some parents don't do research, Google or use AI to think of free/cheap ideas for their kids during the holidays

We’re in Derby(shire!) and it’s awful, isn’t it? Grass is parched and dry. It’s been a bit better these past two days but still so muggy and hot, and I think it’s really affected my dc1 especially, has been very grumpy and argumentative and quite hard work to be around. It’s hard knowing if it’s the heat, being five or other things.

I have a 7yo and 4yo. I have loved the holidays, I am sad they are ending, but it has been expensive! We aren’t really a ‘chill for a day’ kind of family, maybe a morning of afternoon, but we generally have to ‘do’ something each day. We’ve done a lot of free stuff too, rock pooling, geocaching, pond dipping, forest walks, cycling trips with picnics, but have also done some more expensive day trips, craft sessions, science centre, museums, shows, a couple of overnights with my 7yo, and she’s done some odd days at camp too. And our summer holiday abroad too. It has all added up to a fair bit of money.

Not looking forward to the routine again, I enjoy the slower paced mornings and evenings, but am looking forward to replenishing the bank account a bit… Even just going out for a casual lunch is so expensive now.

Also DD1 is not keen about going back. I remember as a kid being kind of ‘ready’ to go back to school - my mum was a single parent so I had to do a lot of days with my gran or at school holiday camp. But DD1 has loved the holidays and doesn’t want to go back to school at all, so that’ll be fun.

I find this a little bit sad…. I’m going to go with YABU. Why do you think every day needs to be a big day out?
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with saying we’re at home today…. You can read/ play in garden if you have one / play with your toys etc. Or the ‘event’ for the day being a trip to library… or they need to tidy their room. 😂
To add we’ve also done lots of free things, and some paid for. But definitely done days at home too!!

I feel so inadequate compared to every other mum

My 22 yr old DS is being hard work. It's the heat.

Did you actually read my post?

Well yes, it has been incredibly hot which I cannot cope with!

I think I was just saying that in hindsight summer holidays were easier when mine were little and you could get them to do the activities you wanted. I also have always had all summer home, with 2 children close in age.

In the past I could do a bit of a timetable for the week where the kids would be occupied easily and for free (any expensive trips/days out would be done at the weekend with DH).
Activities at home: painting, playdoh, Lego, baking, playing in the garden, board games, playing with toys, junk modelling (able to rotate these throughout the week). Some TV to fill in gaps.
Activities out of the house: walks, parks, scooter rides, feeding the ducks, museum, library trips, activities that were free at the toy shop, free splash zone in the park.

Now activities at home: TV, phone, games consoles (until I restrict screen time and kick them off). If in a good mood then I can get them to do cooking/baking. My DD will do lots of crafts. They will play board games eventually.
Outside the house they are no longer interested in parks, and going for a walk is the worse thing ever! Even bribing with an ice cream has limited success! And each time we go out there does seem to be a cost involved - cinema, bowling, trampoline park, arcades, crazy golf, clip and climb! I can just about get them to visit the library to chose books, but it's not the same as when they were little and you could read books to them and have a change of scenery there. Same with places like museums. We clearly did them a lot that now if we go it's a quick pop in and then they want to go home or you need to go to a cafe to extend the time out.

We have definitely run out of money but are also only half way through. I am just hoping September will be cheaper and can make it up that month in terms of budgeting.

@doorss i honestly don’t know if you’re meaning me or not and I’m not trying to be defensive, but we haven’t really done that many ‘expensive’ days out.

We were away the last week of July and I took them to the national forest adventure farm the first week of August and to Peak Wildlife Park (have a membership there so not too bad!) have done a couple of (air conditioned!) soft plays and so on. But it’s things like ice creams, a go on the bouncy castle or whatever is there that adds up. I know I’m going to get posters sternly telling me to just say no and they probably have a point but sometimes life is just too short.

I am lucky I work part time so my term times are much calmer than holidays, but this one is so long (and hot!)

The first week of September I am back in work and so next week is kind of the last week. It’s this one I’m finding hard as I’m running out of steam and enthusiasm, feeling guilty for all the things I’m not doing very well and yet also feeling there’s still a way to go.

This isn’t my experience in London, or in Yorkshire and the north west where family live. There are loads of holidays clubs that do 8.30 to 5.30 hours. My son has also been on a two week away camp (various organisations do these like scouts, woodcraft folk etc). Having to pay for childcare is rubbish but it is definitely there.

There are a few holiday clubs available around here but they are only for school age children, understandably. If you have a child in preschool with the holidays off there isn’t really anything for them.

I’m with you OP! I don’t know if my kids are broken but they definitely do not like just being at home and doing their own thing! Not for more than maybe 30minutes max, then they’re bored, winding each other up or coming to find me to get me to do an activity with them, which on a weekend is lovely, but for 7 weeks none stop is a bit fricking much!

I’m in the thick of ‘watch this! Watch this!’

Mine have set up a ‘car wash’ outside with old cloths and two little tykes cars which is really cute and very imaginative but it makes an unholy mess when they run in and out of the house!

This. 👏👏 PP keep suggesting baking - I've barely put my oven on since the end of June to cook anything, I'm not about to bake a Victoria sponge in 32 degrees heat. Our local library doesn't have air con. The swimming pool costs £20 for 3 of us. Soft play is now at least £40 for a couple of hours for the one with air con, the ones without are hotter than Satan's arsehole and still £30. You can't "go for a walk" because it's too hot. You can't go to the beach because it's packed and too hot. Can't go the park because it's on fire.

It's too hot, my kids are annoying and I'm grumpy.

Parks have been lethal. Going down the slide is liable to get you roasted to a crisp. I briefly met a friend and her dd at a park on Friday and we gave up and went to soft play with air con.

BUT my DD went off and played with my friends DD. So we sat down and had an iced coffee which was horrible but made by someone else. So I am hopeful …

I relate - it can be such hard work. to be honest I think you should have given yourself a big pat on the back (and a cup of tea/glass of wine) for them making their own little car wash outside, that’s very creative and imaginative. I would’ve secretly felt quite smug about mine doing that!
Any way you could repeat something similar another day and make it so they don’t need to keep running inside? Any babies/dinosaurs/anything plastic that need a good wash and then be settled to sleep type thing?
I also sometimes out classical music on whilst they are playing… just to make me feel less guilty when I am experiencing mum guilt because they’ve watched too much tele!
Not sure how old yours are but I think it gets easier. Mine are now 6 & 8 and there is less bickering (sometimes) and more playing together (though unlike another poster’s kids mine are terrible at tidying up so house is still a tip!) and they are just better at doing things together for longer, so it’s less full on!

Yup - I’m looking forward to that too!

Back in the day, you could earn a few bob by putting them up chimneys. But oh no, the nanny state and the woke brigade put paid to that!

I used to love Summer holidays with the children home. They always went way too fast. We didn’t do much in the sense of rushing out each day. It was mostly playing in the garden and a day trip to the beach or maybe stay with relatives who we didn’t see much other parts of the year but the lazy days with no routine were bliss.

You could give each of them a pair of scissors and see how long it takes to cut the lawn?.

The only home educators I've ever come across have been extremely wealthy.