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Keeping It Simple | How To Stay Sane During School Holidays

Here in the southern hemisphere, we are deep into the summer holidays. Lovely long days filled with relaxation and time spent together. Well that is the idea any way. Unfortunately school holidays can also be a time of stress for many. The lack of the usual routine, later nights, disruptions, and treats, can all make for a stressful holiday. So here are my tips to help you stay sane during the long summer holidays:

1. Set a (flexible) routine for your at home days – of course this will be different to the usual school day routine, but think about setting times for snacks and meals, rests, movies, reading etc.

On those days when we have nothing planned we make sure that the days have a rhythm that the kids can predict. For us this means the morning playing, lunch at midday, followed by read and relax for an hour. These days Toby no longer has a sleep (much to our disappointment), but he has a pile of books that he can look through. Movies or television are for the late afternoon when it is hot, and we are all tired. We try to keep bedtime at 7.30 for Toby, and 8.00 for the girls.

It doesn’t really matter what your routine is, providing it works for you. Having a routine helps prevent the worst melt downs. It makes sure that everyone has time on their own, and that tummys are filled regularly.

2. Avoid too many extra activities – it can be tempting to use the holidays to pack in lots of activities that are fun or need to be done. Shopping trips, dentist appointments, fun days visiting attractions, play dates with friends. These are all great to do (well with the exception of dentist appointments), but too many activities become exhausting for the kids (and adults too). Holidays are all about giving kids down time. School is hard work for kids, and they need time to decompress and just be.

For our family, I try to make sure we have more time at home with nothing planned, than days spent out and about. We pick a few activities that we really want to do, and keep it at that.

An added bonus is that more time spent at home usually means a cheaper holiday too!

3. Focus on plenty of down time for everyone. When you are at home, don’t feel the need to be like an activity director on a cruise ship for your kids. Down time involves doing nothing. Kids often come up with the best ideas when they are “bored”. I’m not saying ignore the kids, but give them plenty of time to do things with out you. Sometimes, I will help get things started by pulling out the lego and the big board they use to play it on, or getting out some drawing or craft, but mostly I try to leave the kids to their own devices.

4. Maintain your standards. This one is the hardest. On holidays it can be easy to just let things slide. A rude word here, A bit of stomping or answering back there. After Christmas and all the new presents, plus the excitement of friends, family, and treats, kids can develop an attitude of entitlement very quickly.  Despite not wanting to cause a stir, it really is easier to insist on the same behaviour standards that normally apply, rather than letting it slip for a few days or weeks. If the kids know what the expectations about their behaviour are, holidays are more pleasant for everyone.

I love school holidays (and not just because I’m a teacher), and the summer slowdown is my favourite time of year. By using these few ideas, it becomes an enjoyable, relaxing time for all of us.

What are your tricks for saying sane during the holidays?

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Comments

  1. Jacana says

    January 8, 2015 at 12:35 pm

    Letting heaps slide

    Reply
  2. Jo@Countrylifeexperiment says

    January 8, 2015 at 3:10 am

    Tell me about it! We are staring to think about this year's entries!

    Reply
  3. Erin aussiebookthreads says

    January 7, 2015 at 11:17 am

    Yes my problem these holidays is I didn't keep the routine. Bedtimes all over the shop, way too much screen times, but then with adult 'children' in the house it is much harder to tell them what to do but it effects the younger ones.

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Jo

I'm a city girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got through shearing without a hitch (thankfully 🙏) but we’ve had a run of the flu followed by Covid run through the family since then. The kids and I have tested positive (this is my second time getting it 🦠) though so far C has managed to avoid it. There has been a lot of lying on the couch feeling pretty ordinary. Han had to reschedule her driving test for a 4th time due to Covid, which is disappointing for her because she wants her freedom and for us because it would be so much more convenient if she could drive herself places. Just to add in to the mix, our hot water system has chosen now as a good time to die so we’re on cold showers until we’re all out of iso. This is not meant to be a whinging post but sometimes life just sucks a bit and it’s good to be real. Fortunately, the sight of the fire going with a stack of wood next to it cheers us up. Things will improve soon. Onwards we go…
A picture perfect Autumn afternoon to end the scho A picture perfect Autumn afternoon to end the school holidays. We’ve been busy spending time with friends and family, harvesting the last of the summer produce, as well as a short escape to explore the big smoke. After the craziness of last term it was the break we all needed. It’s back to school for me tomorrow, and the kids are back on Wednesday. Shearing starts soon and so it’s all systems go over the next few weeks.
Covid has made some late changes to our weekend pl Covid has made some late changes to our weekend plans so we are embracing the unexpected and doing not much at home. Plenty of time for hanging out on the dam and enjoy the perfect weather.
Autumn has arrived in the orchard and the apple tr Autumn has arrived in the orchard and the apple trees are full of fruit. Yesterday we filled five baskets of apples that had fallen off the trees. Then we had apple crumble for dessert last night. Between the orchard and the vegetable garden this time of year is always super busy as we deal with all the harvest. No so busy though, that I can’t grab the camera and snap a few pics.
On weekends he makes himself a hot milo and lies o On weekends he makes himself a hot milo and lies on the veranda in the sun, just chilling and enjoying the freedom (until mum grabs her camera at least 🙄🤣).
Late summer evenings spent picking fruit in the or Late summer evenings spent picking fruit in the orchard are just the best. We take baskets down to gather the fruit and we inspect the trees and plan what we will do with it all. Tonight we gathered blackberries, nectarines and the first apples. The kids eat the fruit right off the trees - it tastes so much better than shop bought fruit. All the rain this year has not been good for all our plants; no mulberries and a lot less of some of the others. It reminds us of how much we depend on the weather and how much is out of our hands.

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Hi, I’m Jo

City girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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