Do you find the holidays hard???

[CaptainBrickbeard]

My Twitter feed this morning is full of advice on how to handle the transition to the holidays and teachers bemoaning how difficult they find the ‘lack of purpose’ and how much they miss the classroom. I am, frankly, agog. I have never struggled in the slightest to adjust! I often get ill in the first week or am extremely tired, but that’s not what the Edutwitter names are talking about and I’m finding it baffling and also a little irritating. The holidays give me a chance to indulge my interests, look after myself, spend relaxed time with my children and enjoy the break from stress, tension and pressure. I can’t imagine letting the job define me so much that I didn’t know what to do with myself in the summer - I will read, write, watch tv, go abroad...it’s like when people say they would stay in their job if they won the lottery because otherwise they’d get bored. I can’t understand it AT ALL.

I’m going to cherish this holiday because when we come back, the school is launching it’s new behaviour policy...no prizes for guessing which way they’ve decided to go.... I’m thinking that as a result, next year could be my last in the profession so this might be my last six week break! I’m certainly not going to mope about missing the classroom routine!

Hell no! Twitter teachers are weird.

I can never understand anyone who says they get bored in the holidays. But then again, I only do this job now for the holidays.

Are they all under 30? 25?
I think it’s because teaching is so full on, they miss the adrenaline rush, and that many find no time for hobbies during term time, they are lost in unstructured time.

No way!! I agree with the pp, twitter and Instagram teachers are beyond strange. By 4pm yesterday I was in full on holiday mood and it won't be leaving until the last day of August!! Some of my colleagues are going into school for the first two weeks and working on things 😳 because they can't switch off. 😳😂😱

I do get a bit bored in the holidays but in a nice way. I'm always ready to go back in September though.

God no, I like being able to say yes to doing stuff with my own kids

I know it will take me a couple of days to "come down" because it's been particularly full on this year for a number of reasons (that will be my 2 inset days next week - full focus but not teacher clothes).

After that, holiday all the way! I have books to read,friends to catch up with, theatre tickets booked, places to go... and a house to reclaim. This morning I'm going to put my teacher uniform away out of sight.

I might get bored in the holidays, but that's because I will be spending a large portion of the six weeks doing boring household jobs that don't get done in term time because I don't have time. So it's not the lack of structure that will get me, but the nature of the tasks I need to do.

I do have some work to do, mostly because I'm teaching a new section of A Level so I need to learn it over the summer in order to be able to teach it in September. I would normally ignore school completely until the Sunday before we go back, when I would start planning a few lessons.

So no, I definitely don't miss the classroom routine. I do not need any help at all transitioning to the holidays. I thoroughly enjoy time off to spend with my DD.

Hahahaha. No. I love the holidays! I fill them full of nice things and seeing people I don’t see in term time! I went into old work for a couple of hours to tidy up and new work for a couple of hours for handover last week and now I’m not thinking about work until I have to!

I get bored because I’m part time since having my DD and have absolutely no spare money at all so all my days will be spent at home or in the garden trying to amuse my DD and tolerating DSD who has ASD and whom it’s like walking on egg shells around.
I think that the holidays are lovely if you can afford to visit people, go to see films/gigs/shows, take holidays but otherwise it can get a bit tiresome.

I find it a little disorientating to be honest. I often don't know what day it is!
But then I'm one of those people who went from BA to MA to PGCE to teaching so although I always worked from the age of 16 I've also always had a timetable. I settle down by the time we get to the two results Thursdays

Nope, in more than 20 years of teAching I've never complained about being bored in the holidays!

Infact these days I relish the idea of a few days doing nothing!

Yes, it’s going to be a hard few weeks. But you know what? I’ll struggle through it. I’ll even manage to smile occasionally.

I love not knowing what day it is all holiday.

I was just reading Twitter similarly agog. I think loads of the people on there or either bonkers or liars tbh. I've been unfolding people left, right and centre!

Unfollowing

Gods for you, OP, but it seems odd to be irritated by people feeling differently from you about something.

I know; it has got to be so very grating - I have been particularly conflicted following some teachers who have blogged about their professional development on maternity leave. I just can’t relate at all! I follow people for the shared resources but the relentless positivity and tendency to define themselves so much by the job does wear me down. One person I followed who was particularly prominent and upbeat has just revealed that she has quit due to the pressures of the job - you’d never have known it ever gave her any trouble following her feed up until then.

I do like to think about the positives of the job and try to dig myself out of the spiral of negativity which is easy to fall into - but it’s disheartening to feel like other people are breezing through without breaking a sweat! I prefer a more honest portrayal.

And I absolutely relate to having no money for the holidays and children to entertain! That is a bit draining as well - but I still prefer it to term time.

Family, you are right. I know. I don’t have to follow them either!

It all feels so desperate. I find it very depressing.

I actually do struggle a little in the holidays. Don't get me wrong, I love them, and it's wonderful to spend time with my own kids. But I have suffered from depression long term. I set high expectations for myself and then get annoyed if I sleep in or don't get dozens of tasks done. I don't think it's a teacher thing though, it's a personal mental health issue that I need to learn how to manage.

Yes, MrsK, that I think I understand. I have wasted days away, mindlessly surfing on my phone and ending up feeling more tired or irritable. That can be frustrating. I have learned to be kinder to myself though and allow myself a bit of slack rather than beating myself up about it. My kids are still at school Monday and Tuesday and rather than setting productive goals like tidying the house and going to the gym and completing my schemes of work and reading up on new A Level content in those two days, I’m going to spread that out across the break and let myself do whatever I feel I need to do on the Monday and Tuesday and not feel bad about it! I’m thinking a leisurely swim and maybe reading a book. I know some people can’t relax whilst they have jobs outstanding, or like my MIL, can’t relax in a messy house. But I know myself and that I can only approach those tasks when I’m energised and healed so I know I will need to indulge myself in a bit of a slump first. And I know that doesn’t mean I’ll waste the whole holiday away.

When I got divorced a few years ago and started living on my own, I found the summer holidays incredibly lonely - people spend time with their families, and they go on holiday. If you don't go on holiday, have lots of jobs to do (what teacher doesn't have an enormous holiday to-do list?) and are at home on your own, you can feel very isolated.

I didn't want to keep asking people if I could go round, and there was a two-week period where my parents, all my brothers and sisters and my two best friends were away at the same time. I ended up being massively overly friendly to the staff at the local tip because I hadn't spoken to another human for 5 days straight.

Lots of people probably feel like that sometimes during the long break. It's kind to see when single colleagues are around and make a bit of time for them if you can. I do think it's probably not the lack of structure that really bothers people, but loneliness.

I know a couple of my single school colleagues who don’t have children struggle. Their friends and family are at work so after the first few weeks the novelty wears off and those that are support staff don’t have loads of disposable income to go away..