The intensity of school holidays

[WinkyWinkola]

Thank god half term is coming to an end. I now am really not looking forward to the summer holidays. Am I the only one?

I just feel it's been really intense with my 3 dcs. I've taken them out to places, play dates etc etc. And all they've done is moan and groan and complain about this, that and the other.

DS1 (5) is particularly contrary and prone to hysterical tantrums. DS2 is only 7 months but even he was whinging and whining an awful lot.

Today was the worst. Stuck in waiting for the plumber to come all day. Hideous.

I'm so glad school goes back next week.

Me too!

what is it nowadays? 7 weeks? 8? It is far too long.

I am ashamed to say that I don't cope well having my children here 24/7 I need some time without the yelling and screaming and stimming and everything! Those few hours of school help me to stay sane

I don't think I cope well with being with anyone 24/7. I really don't like it much.

I love and like my dcs and enjoy their company some of the time - when they're not going bonkers - but I need some time alone! Apart from the baby. He's great to have around all the time.

That's sad.
So when school goes back, will it be just your DS1 you don't have to spend the day with? Or do you get rid of two of them?

The heat makes it worse and more intense. Heat also makes people stroppier. Warm days with a lovely breeze are great but not high temperatures. Winky I am hoping 5 is just a really whingy phase.

Why is it sad Goblinchild?

I've had a rotten week too, tbh well, not all of it, but last couple days, ughgh!! I spent five hours this morning trying to get ready to go the beach where we only stayed for 4 hours in total (sigh).

But then, last summer was very good, utterly fantastic for 5 weeks. Lots of outings.

When they get older you start shipping them off to grandparents and pack holidays, bliss!!

Dread it too. Got 5 here. One revising for gcse's , others in and out, up and down stairs , constantly want food. The mess!!!! I have 'stuff' everywhere, and they all blame it on each other

bickering and arguing. Bringing loads of friends in. Then out. Then in again

sneaking into garage for ice creams from the chest freezer, leaving doors open, lolly wrappers lying around so the ants come!!!

i like them, though my job is to entertain them during the hols! would like nothing more than to be able to provide more. funding down on the list for holiday provisions

School holidays are my holidays, so I'm rather a fan. I find them more fun now I make time for much needed R&R rather than just try to pack in lots of stuff. We all get on better.

School holidays are my holidays, so I'm rather a fan. I find them more fun now I make time for much needed R&R rather than just try to pack in lots of stuff. We all get on better.

I can understand Riven finding the holidays stressful because the respite care for her DD is so patchy, and how she worries when her daughter isn't with her.
I can also understand if parents get stressed about getting child care for a holiday because they have to work.
I just find it sad when parents don't enjoy spending extensive periods of time with their children. I love the holidays and always have, and I have always enjoyed my children.
It's only an opinion, to balance all the
'Oh yes, can't wait for them to be someone else's problem' posts that will follow on.

2 x autistic children = 1 x mother weeping in a corner after 7 solid weeks with no break. No matter how much you love and enjoy your kids, it's not always a bed of roses.

Well, I think perhaps if ds1 didn't shout and scream a lot about nothing it could be a lot more fun.

We had a couple of good days to be fair. I'm just tired out by all the action and having to break up the rows he and dd had.

It's not a given that you and your children are going to get on like a house on fire all the time. But if you do, you're really lucky.

I think that it's quite normal to crave some alone time. Even if it's not, I crave it! I'm looking after someone's dog too at the moment and I can't go to the loo without either a dog or a child following me there!

But surely not everyone on the thread will be parents of children with special needs?
Most will be like the parents of the children I teach, shoving them through the door on Monday with relieved expressions.
I've only got one on the spectrum, and that's challenging at times. It's actually easier when he's with his family that when he's out in the world.

3 people with unruly tantrummers this week have given me the look and said "urgh, when are they back at school?"
I have smiled sweetly and agreed, although the school hols are MY hols and I have to try and teach the buggers all year round!
My choice I know, but just bemuses me sometimes.

Oh and they are getting shorter every year. used to be standard 6 1/2 weeks, now 6 dead on, or sometimes 5 weeks 5 or 6 days. Staff are back on 31 Aug this year at our place (public sector that is - private sector has lots more, but again that's a personal choice).

I am looking forward to the hols this year as a 6 week break from school runs will be bliss.

I plan to chill out a bit though and spend a few days at home each week and invite friends over to play in the garden.

I will do a few days out but it is too stressful and they don't seem to care too much anyway! May do a few days at the park too with picnic.

We are going to Eurodisney for a long weekend in August too which should be fun.

I used to find the school hols stressful when I had two kids at home all the time anyway and the school hols meant all the play groups were shut and the places I went out like the local zoo were hell so I was always really bored.

Now they are at school and nursery the breaks seem more exciting to me. But I do work 2 days a week now and my MIL has them one day and my Mum the other so they do days out too which takes the strain off.

I can see it from both points of view but I figure make the most of it and try not to have too many stressful days out as they are more hassle than they are worth sometimes!

I think it is REALLY intense with 3 DC. My youngest is also a baby and I find it VERY hard when all 3 at home 24/7. Just so hard to divide your attention, do activities that suit all ages etc... it's FULL on. I never found it like this with only 2

I feel I'm a better, more patient mother when I haven't got all 3 together! Am hoping when they're slightly older it'll be easier...

Water. Can you put up a sprinkler, paddling pool or water slide (if on a hill).

Ds1 can play in the 8ft pool for hours (I know monstrosity, but hey it is a lifesaver) and doesn't get stroppy with the heat. I highly recommend it especially if you are in London.

ignore if you already do this.

I very rarely take my children out during the school holidays. I pretty much ignore them and I think that it helps their creativity. Children get enough herding at school, and I think the holidays should be a break.

The only special thing we have done this holiday is to go out to lunch on one day. Three of my children are in heavy revision mode, so they have their timetables to work to.

In the summer, apart from our family holiday, we may have a day in London, and a day to a tourist attraction in the first couple of weeks when it is still quiet (before the majority of schools get out).

"I just find it sad when parents don't enjoy spending extensive periods of time with their children. I love the holidays and always have, and I have always enjoyed my children".

Pah, can't get involved in a debate with someone who is prepared to post such sanctimonious twaddle with a straight face on.

-smirk at Bibbity's assessment.

goblinchild.....we arent saying its like this ALL of the time,the thread title mentioned the 'intensity',which is what we're describing here.....nobody is saying we are the parents who cant wait to'shove them through the door' on a monday!!

i'm just saying,the 'intensity' is quite,er,intense. i'm a lone parent with 5.from teens(in middle of gcse's) to toddler. and its hard work!! joyous,but hard.

i'd estimate in my house,for every bad moment,there is 5 or 6 good times...todays been quite gtim. hoover broke,dd lost her itouch and my fridge seems to be defrosting itself.....nothing can be sorted untill later. if they had been in school,i could have sorted it all out when the littlest had his nap...just the way it is!