The dreaded 6 week summer holidays!

Our brand new Stockport Mumbler Ambassador Jade is mum to 3 girls and juggles her life of working nightshift, whilst caring for her 3 daughters in Stockport. As ever, the long school summer holidays bring additional challenges & pressures…

“The dreaded 6 week summer holidays!

As a child I remember crossing the days off on the calendar throughout the whole of July, on countdown to the beloved 6 week school holidays. School would be winding down and our days would be spent colouring in, watching video tapes and completing word searches. The maths and English lessons would be on pause until the start of the next school year.

Now as a parent I find myself having a slightly different opinion. On one hand I look forward to the lack of routine, the lazier mornings and later nights where I’ll get to spend all this extra quality time with my little darlings. On the other hand 6 weeks away from school fills me with absolute dread. Thoughts racing round my mind include, how will I actually entertain them for 6 whole weeks without either needing to take out a loan or without going totally insane. Let’s face it the task of having to juggle 6 weeks of childcare alone is also a headache we could all do without.

Childcare either falls into three categories:

• Category number 1 putting the children into some kind of overly expensive childcare facility or sports/dance/drama/gymnastics club whereby your pretty much leaving your beloved children with an almost complete stranger and praying they come to no harm and don’t spend the day friendless and alone.
• Category number 2 you beg/bribe/butter up your lovely but now much older, now carefree parents into spending quality time with their delightful grandchildren.
• Category number 3 you tag team with your other half taking your entire holiday entitlement for the year meaning you can just about cover the 6 week holidays but there is zero time to actually spend together for the remaining 7 months of the year.

If you’re like me you fall into category number 4 which is the category of the night worker. I’ll spend all day seeing to the children and all night working and all the following day a walking zombie surviving on copius amounts of caffeine, peppa pig on repeat and counting down the hours until its an acceptable time to put the children to bed so I can get some much needed sleep.

However you manage your childcare during the 6 week holidays, it’s a headache nonetheless and a constant game of sudoku as you navigate one week followed by another and another and another. Our big abroad holiday took place during the Whitson break so I don’t have the added benefit of a week away from the dreary grey Stockport skies this year to at least break up the monotonous 6 weeks of gloom.

With warm weather and clear skies comes freedom and adventure and at a fraction of the cost . Trips to the park or a walk along the canal not costing me half a month’s wages compared to that of the indoor activities on offer. Whilst we’ve had a very wet July I’m hoping August won’t let me down.

At the start of the holidays I always write a list of places I’ll try and take the kids too with the all important new uniform shop being a full “day-of-hell” in itself. Top tip, do it as early as possible; I’ve been that parent queuing for an hour outside of the uniform shop on the 1st September, praying I’ve not left it too late.

I suspect I’ll spend most of the holidays playing referee between my oldest two whilst they make it there mission to annoy one another as much as possible, arguing over pretty much anything and everything.

My youngest turns the terrible two on day one of the holidays, and will relish in having her big sisters around for the entirety of August. I’ve taken the executive decision to commence potty training. Thinking the lack of school runs and extra curricular club taxiing would be a perfect time to do it. I’m now questioning weather my decision was in fact genius or completely ridiculous.

Whilst I’m sure we will share some lovely times together and make some wonderful memories I also know on the 4th of September, as I pack their bags and fill their water bottles, I’ll be having mixed emotions once again. On one hand I’ll be smiling away that we have survived another dreaded 6 week school holidays and the little darlings are back to school tomorrow, giving me 6 hours of well earned peace and quiet. Whilst on the other i’ll be crying inside at the fact that my babies are growing up and starting another school year and another summer of making memories is once again over and done with.

Mum guilt at its finest.

Whatever awaits us over the coming weeks you can be sure they’ll be plenty of  ipads, sweets, McDonald’s and alcohol (for me, not the kids!) to see us all through.”

Blog by Jade Atwell for Stockport Mumbler.