Summer holidays - "yay!" or "argh!" ?

The long summer holiday are upon us and I know this fills some with dread and panic and others with a huge feeling of relief.

Six weeks is a long time, and although most of us look forward to a break (from the annoying alarm call to begin the mad morning school dash, the headache of trying to remember a variety of school events through the year and the myriad of essentials the little darlings need for said events, the exhausting flurry of after-school activities ensuring each child is in the right place at the right time), some of us despair as we wonder what to do to keep the children amused.

Over recent years, our British summers have been not-so-summery, which adds to the problem - not only do you have all your children in one place, but often stuck under the same roof looking out the window on to yet another grey, wet day.

Usually, having a large family is a good thing, plenty of others to play with, but unfortunately it seems a couple of weeks in the novelty has worn off and fighting ensues, and being stuck indoors does not  help the problem. And I haven't found this getting easier as the kids get older, sometimes it's worse!

When mine were younger, it was hard to juggle keeping the older ones amused whilst keeping the baby's needs met - no, mummy can't get out the paints/play duck, duck goose, she's feeding DS3! All I could do was let them know that when DS3 was fed/nappy changed/put down for a nap, then we could do something together. Just make sure you do as promised otherwise they won't believe you next time! I found the best thing about the holidays was the removal of the time restraints - I didn't have to clock watch to get everyone ready to pick up DS1 from school or DS2 from nursery, so if we started a painting session at 2.30pm it didn't matter!

If the weather was too wet to go outside I would keep them entertained with a few crafty activities, broken up with their favourite tv programmes (especially if I had to focus attention on baby at the time) - thank goodness for the little black box! Sometimes I would have an urge to bake and let the older ones "help" - yes it got messy and needed patience but they loved it! When they got older and the marvellous invention of the Wii arrived, I encouraged them to play the active games on it to get them moving and get some exercise when they couldn't play outside. There were lots of "challenge" type games (boxing, tennis, running) where they could get rid of some excess energy. 

Lego bricks (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We would also have movie afternoons with popcorn, drawing sessions, playing Lego (yes, I would join in too - I love Lego!) - just think of stuff your kids like doing and join in, they love it when mum plays too! Housework and chores can be fitted in around the activities, after all it's our holiday too!

If the weather was fine then we would spend a lot of time in the garden or going for walks in the beautiful area of Ashridge. The boys loved finding sticks to thrash the bracken or build camps and DD was happy in the buggy and later would join in with her brothers. We had many lovely picnics in Ashridge or at Ashridge monument, with family and friends, and it made for a fairly cheap day out.

In the garden, I bought a sandpit which DS1 absolutely loved (and got a bit miffed when DS2 came along and he had to share!), and for DS2's second birthday a purchase of a small plastic climbing frame with tunnel was a big hit as he was much more active than DS1.

We also invested in a small wooden playhouse which they all enjoyed for years, not only serving as a play area but somewhere to keep the ever-growing number of outside toys! It's still standing now, having survived a house move and move of position in the garden, 12 years later!

Now the children are older, I really enjoy the holidays - the boys are quite capable of making their own breakfast, watching tv or playing Lego until 8am when they're allowed to check I'm awake and ask to play on their iPod or iPad games, and even DD will happily join her brothers without coming in to ask mummy first (admittedly after many explanations that "it is the holidays and we don't need to get up for school and it would be nice to let mummy, daddy and her brothers have a lie-in"!) The purchase of a Gro Clock has been really useful so I can change the settings for the sun to "come up" at 7.30am instead of 7am so she knows when she can go and see if anyone else is up! 

Then, even if I am awake at 8am, I can really stay in bed as long as I like, knowing the kids will come and ask me if they need anything, but for the most part they are all happy playing downstairs until I'm ready to jump in the shower.

And I love that feeling in the holidays of being free from clock watching - lunch happens when we're hungry, if I start a chore at 2.30pm then I am safe in the knowledge I'll be able to finish it instead of being interrupted and then forgotten as I leave to pick up from school and ferry kids to different places before getting back to organise tea. Even the evenings are less rushed - if the kids have tea late then they'll go to bed a bit later and it doesn't matter because they don't need to get up for school the next day. All the pressure of making sure the routines are stuck to in term time so everyone gets fed and bathed and enough hours sleep is gone and we can relax a bit!

So the 6 weeks holiday in my house will be filled with having fun, rest and relaxation - but probably interspersed with a few arguments as well, after all we are far from perfect!

Camp building after a picnic in Ashridge

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