Tuesday 23 June 2015

5 tips for survivng school holidays

With the school holidays fast approaching at the end of this week, I recently realised that last school holidays were probably the best that I've ever had in all my years of school holidays (Chloe is in year 12 this year, that's thirteen years of school holidays.) My goal these holidays is to make them as awesome as last, so I've had to ponder what we did that made them so awesome. Here's what I came up with.
  1. We left the house every day. I know many mums see the school holidays as a chance to stop the routine and relax, but my kids really like the routine. Natalie and Riley go to vacation care two days a week (I have yet to find a suitable program for Douglas to attend), and every other weekday we head to the park or the beach. This keeps our getting-up-and-breakfast-routine, and eases the back-to-school-get-up struggles.
  2. We kept on top of basic chores. Keeping the basics clean every day made it easier to leave the house. And there were less arguments when everyone was asked to help with the big jobs, so they were finished quicker.
  3. We had quiet time every day. Spending time together every day is exhausting. The kids were allowed down time every afternoon, either on iPads or watching a DVD. They weren't expected to share space with each other, or play together for that period of time.
  4. We celebrate the power of one. Douglas was away for a week last holidays. He will be away for four days these holidays. We will enjoy it as much as possible (but they're always glad when he gets home.)
  5. Weekends are for dad. With Steve still working during holidays, we don't plan much for weekends. We go for a walk, play, eat his favourite dinners, and generally have down time.
I also have grand plans to introduce chore cards these holidays, in hopes of making term time smoother. If it works, I'll share those ideas after the holidays.

How do you survive school holidays with your sanity intact?

Linking up with Essentially Jess for #ibot 
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6 comments

  1. I try to keep to a bit of routine when its holiday time, actually it's very much the weekend routine, which I suppose is a relaxed mid week routine with some family time thrown in instead of everyone heading off in their own direction.

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  2. routine is hard in holidays isnt it! My hubby is a teacher so when its holiday time I struggle to keep everything going as usual with bub because he always wants to go out and do things. We'll try better this time!

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  3. I leave the house every second day now so I imagine when it comes to school holidays in a few years time I'll be doing the same thing.

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  4. I am new to the whole school holiday thing and find that a mix of exciting activties and much needed down time works for us. This prep thing is exhausting!

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  5. I like slow starts in the holidays, but also having something simple but interesting happening most days. Our days start later and generally finish later Which works for us.

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  6. I am a lover of the holidays for the lack of routine it offers, but my 17yo son lamented just yesterday that he is finding them boring. These are great ideas and whilst I would struggle to get him out of the house every day, I am certain a couple of times a week would be doable.

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