To DREAD the school holidays..!!

[Alderney]

I HATE the holidays. They start on Friday for us. I hate the fact that EVERYTHING is shut (playgroup, toddler group - everything)...I hate the fact that the park is stuffed full of mothers at the end of their tethers too...and children who are bored out of their minds.

I don't have children who want long lies and pyjama days....I have 2 children who want entertained from dusk to dawn, who will vie for attention all day, an Elder child who will want me to watch every single jump onto the sofa that she ever does...

I see the summer holidays as 49 days that I have to fill 12 hours a day in. I see it as a time when my house will get ripped to shreds and I'll generally have shouted once each day by 8am.

DH gets no more time off because its the holidays - in fact he has been very limited as the time he can take off because other people are on holiday....he'll still be out from 8 till 6:30 every night, which gives him a grand toital of 90 minutes with them every day - and for the first hour od that he'll still be asleep in the morning. So I can reckon on respite of about 30 minutes a day, whereas normally we have 2 lots of playgroup a week for DD1 and 5 lots of Preschool for DD1.

I find holidays very very tiring. The ONLY thing that I won't miss is the very rushed lunch hours because we have to leave for preschool at 12:30 - and DD1 takes greqt pleasure in eating slower and slower and less and less the more I need her to hurray up - I'm hoping to get some of her eating issues sorted out over the summer when I have time to sit far an hour over a bowl of macaroni.

Sorry - all the "endless days of fun" that everyone else looks forward to, are exactly what I dread.

thanks for that clutteredup.

Also agree that your dh should take some time off over summer. Surely the holidays and allocated fairly so that everyone gets, say one week each, in the school hols. It's hardly fair if one person with kids gets a fortnight off and another gets nothing.

Also, are you going away anywhere.

I should try and get DH to have some time off. Are you going away? It breaks things up if you can.I should try to treat it as if it might be fun (at least some of it)because they grow up so quickly and then don't want to do things with you. I don't think you said how old they were but if possible I would get them to do some things on their own, being bored is good for them. If they are hopeless at it I would go to the extent of drawing a timetable and put in time for yourself when they know they have to amuse themselves. I would ask them what they want to do at the start and try and fit it in. It can be something simple like bake a cake or get an old sheet and make a den under the table. Can you have someone else's dcs and then another day they have them back, or just meet up with friends at a park and take a picnic. Just taking a picnic out on your own would get you out of the house. You could try a sticker chart and give them a sticker if they play nicely on their own with a small treat if they get a certain amount of stickers.

I see reading it properly that they are very young so you can get away with simple things like a bowl of water and old bottles and sieve etc or make playdough. I would aim to have one activity down each day even if it something really simple.

I have 5 I love the holidays ,there is a thread on here about things to do during the summer holidays think it's on site stuff.

I love the summer holidays. dd has cp and is severley disabled so very hard work. but I love spending the time with her. admitted I have 6 days play scheme booked and a few nights respite. but I can't wait.(day one will be shit though. it always is)

I think I am so fed up pregnancy wise at the moment its hard to focus on anything else - also ds is currently on his 3rd bout of tonsilitis in 8 weeks so am hoping thats it for illness over the summer

We are off to North Yorkshire for 4 days 1st weekend in August so at least I will feel he has had a bit of an adventure and dh will be there for all the heavy lifting, playing football etc.

If I get much bigger I wont even be able to get down onto the floor to play with him!!!!

Oh, I love love love the summer holidays
Mine are 8 and 5, so old enough to be able to amuse themselves in the garden whilst I am on the patio with my nose in a good book.
My children love lazy morning, (sometimes not getting dressed till lunchtime, they even play in the garden in their pjs), they love getting engrossed in their imaginary games (again leaving me iwth my nose in a good book).
We have planned some activities, and this helps. The first week of the holidays both dc are doing swimming lessons each morning. The pool is next to a playground where we will easily spend an hour, so by the time we get home it will be lunchtime, and then we will have a lazy afternoon at home. So that is that week sorted!
The second week I have potentially a day pencilled in with two other mumsnetters and their children. Will also meet up with some pals from the dc's school. (picnic in the park that sort of thing)
We are away in the middle of hte holidays for two weeks (visiting rellies in holland and a midweek break at centre parcs in holland as a birthday treat for ds)
Then back home fo another relaxing week and a half before school starts again.

I am always very very sad, and have a real heavy feeling in my heart when the dc go back to school.
I love not to have to get up early and rush out the door for 8.30, I love not having to make lunchboxes, endure reading books, help with homework, deal with endless tales of X and Y at school did not let me play, deal with the endless fundraising and PTA requests, etc etc.
(disclaimer, I love my dc's school and am a frequent helper, which is why it is soooo nice to have a break )

I love charliecat's advice on this thread

I'm afraid I'm with the loving summer holidays crowd. Last year we went away for a fortnight in the 6 weeks and it really messed with my head. We had so much stuff to do around town here that I was sad to miss it.

So this year, we're doing weekends away, with dh and dd and keeping the weeks for playdates and local adventures. I'm buying a cheap tent and am hoping to spend a few cheap days away from home.

I know I'm lucky just to have one child, so it's easier logistically. It's harder in some ways, though, because playing by yourself isn't always fun. And I always wanted herds of kids so they could amuse themselves together.

That aside, I'm checking out the local library, parks, museums, etc, to see what's happening. Our local galleries have an art cart every weekend through the year and I'm sure there will be loads on. I'm checking out the rail pages for cheap rail journeys; the coach service for cheap coach journeys and the weather forecast will get checked regularly for picnics and country walks.

Child swapping sounds like a good system, so I'll be arranging with a few mums to do some of that and that's about it! With visiting grandparents and friends, I can't see us fitting everything in over 6 weeks.

I'm off to check that thread from last year about summer hols...

Ever heard of Superweeks? You can send your kids away for the week for about £350. They will pick them up from certain places around the country, you wave them off and return to pick them up a week later. They spend the week at an empty boarding school or similar and are entertained all day every day - don't have the chance to get bored - no T.V.s, computers, mobile phones, etc. just good, old-fashioned, outdoor fun and games. I have four children and they have all been on various weeks with this company and have come back absolutely full of it. I can thoroughly recommend it. Much better than Camp Beaumont or PGL.

Alderney - I completely, utterly and totally agree (now I am going to read the rest of the posts on the thread)

Eeeemmm, this threads 2 years old!

Okay read some of the rest of the thread. My problem - possibly different to Alderney, is not a lack of ideas regarding how to keep them occupied or lovely things to do together - hell, I can dream up itinerary filling stuff until the cows come home...it's just that some of us have stuff we simply must do and for which we need protected time - and that is tricky when the children are perpetually around. They are scant respecters of my need to do 3-4 hours of academia each day

So it is - but a timely discussion nonetheless given that half term is around the corner