Half Term Chaos

I don’t know about you but I always look forward to half term. No school run, no rushing, everything laid back and easy and supposedly relaxing. Except in my household it’s nothing like that. Aside from the fact one child is up at 5.45am  every day regardless of blackout blinds, bed times or it being the holidays, the first thing my kids say every day is ‘WHAT ARE WE DOING TODAY?’. I’m not one for a filled time table but these days I find I am having to micro manage my kids from breakfast through to bedtime. My mantra seems to be “get dressed-go-play-come eat-get-ready-for-the-park-go-to-the-toilet” – it’s exhausting and I hate to say it, it seems to be getting worse as they get older. Not because they need more looking after but because they’re most common response is either to ignore me or say ‘Why?’… This has inevitably led to chaos as I try to fit working, around holiday time and limited childcare. I asked my mum if my brothers and I were as demanding as my two kids and she laughed so hard she cried! According to her she often wished for overtime at the hospital (she was a nurse on A&E) as it was easier than having to look after the three of us in the school holidays. That made me feel a little better, as did bumping into a friend in Sainsbury’s this morning, where she said she’d come to get ‘five minutes peace’ before facing the inevitable mayhem of having her four kids aged between 2 years and 12 years at home for five days. Having said all that, it is lovely to have my kids at home for a change. I realise how much I miss them during the school day and how entertaining they can be to have around. That said, I am also grateful it’s half term and not the summer holidays. How about you? How’s your half term going? Are you staying sane?