When do school holidays get easier with a toddler and preschooler?

[Luna20]

Can anyone offer me some light at the end of the tunnel here? I have an 18 month old and a 4 year old. Life feels incredibly relentless at the moment. But particularly the days where I am home alone with both children. My 4 year old finishes nursery at 11.45 and I just find the whole day a slog. I genuinely found it easier when my youngest was a baby. Now he's on the move it's obviously constant toddler chaos, plus the 4 year olds relentless stream of chatter and both of them are incredibly stubborn and strong willed at the minute. I can't get a second to breathe. The school holidays feel completely overwhelming to me. I know being a mum isn't easy and I'm not expecting it to be a walk in the park but it feels like they're both at such testing ages at the minute. Basically I just want some one to tell me it's going to get easier and at what age, because at the moment I really find being on my own with both of them so draining and I love them but some days I dread it. Some one tell me, at what age will the school holidays feel more cope-able? 😰

I used to dread long school holidays with my elder son! Half term was manageable but anything else was a total slog.

I noticed a big change in Reception. The summer holidays between preschool-reception and reception-year 1 were night and day. He was so much calmer and so much more able to entertain himself.

Also, the older they get, the more receptive they are to spending some of the holidays doing an activity. A Forest School day or general mixed activities (often done by the same people who run the After School Club) or sports camp.

Now my son is 7 and I really look forward to school holidays! I take as much time off as I can and we have fun. His toddler brother follows his lead. On the days I do have to work, he’s ok with going to childcare.

Why can’t the 4 year old do a longer day in nursery?

When they are teenagers, and can be left alone!

Sympathy Op; it nearly broke me when mine were 3/4 and 1.

DD is now nearly three (in July) and ds is five and it’s just getting manageable. I’m hoping three will be a turning point. I’ll be honest though, I still really miss the relative calm and freedom of just one. I’m not sure I’ll ever ‘enjoy’ mine together.

I would do longer days for the 4 year old. Til 11:45 is hardly preparation for school days anyway.

I have 5 years between mine. I found school holidays okay, but eldest was 5 when youngest was a baby, so 6/7 at 18 months.

I think the most important thing was I was getting a proper break. School holidays were fine, because mine were in school 8:30-9 and nursery 8:30-4:30 and I was otherwise at work which was so much easier. On the weekends, I got time to do things I enjoyed while Dh took them out. It wasn’t Groundhog Day every day.

@saynotofondant @followtheswallow thank you, this gives me hope! The Easter holidays just gone I found really hard and I kept saying, I don't remember October or Christmas ones being this difficult. But it could be because my 18 month old was actually a lot more chill where as he is fully becoming his own person now and keeps me on my toes all day long. But they both have such different wants and needs, hoping that gets easier when they get older 😅

@Floppyearedlab We're entitled to 15 free hours and can't really justify paying for extra at the moment. So he does 5 mornings a week at school nursery.

@mindutopia yeah this is a good point, I'm a stay at home mum currently so I'm just constantly with the kids, no breaks at all and we have no family help. My plan was to put the littlest in nursery at around 2 so I can start working again. Possibly just need to wait til then and perhaps my sanity will come back slightly, along with my patience!