Schools out and the kids are in party mood, but are you wondering how you’ll survive the summer?
Dread is possibly too strong a word, but with the summer holidays here, I have to admit to be feeling more than a little apprehensive. While my daughter is celebrating the arrival of six weeks of summer and absolutely no school, I am left wondering how we are going to fill that time and whether our finances will buckle under the strain.
You can see what some other parents feel about the prospect of the length of the summer holidays in Linda's post on Monday: Are the summer holidays too long?
Add to that the fact that I work from home so will still have deadlines too meet while my daughter is off school. Going on past experience this will mean having to start work when she goes to bed and grabbing an extra hour or two before she wakes up each morning, which is likely to leave me ready for a holiday by the time the schools re-open.
No-one wants to give the impression they don’t want to spend time with their child, but I’m sure I’m not the only parent really wanting their child to have a summer they will remember for all the right reasons yet wondering, in reality, how that can be achieved.
Summer holiday planning
I have left the summer holiday planning a little late in the day, but with a daughter who doesn’t like change and who thrives on having a structure to her day, it seems sensible to draw up a flexible timetable to refer to over the next few weeks.
I had been relying on sunshine and daily trips to the local park but that is unlikely to be enough. The recent rain has also reminded me that summer rarely means sun, so I need to have some activities planned to prevent cabin fever kicking in by the middle of next week. So we are looking at activities that won’t got a small fortune.
Activities that don’t won’t break the bank
Many local councils run free activities throughout the summer including sports and crafts days and are worth looking out for.
Many museums and galleries are free to visit and welcome children throughout the summer months. It’s worth checking out whether they are also running events or activities for children.
The National Trust runs events for children and families. Its website allows you to search for events happening near you.
Days Out UK lists more than 7,000 of the UK’s most popular attractions and also details up-to-date discounts available.
RFTJoanne also has details of more great summer discounts and deals on summer entertainment and days out including a discount code for Little Bird - a website specialising in family deals, cut price cinema tickets and details of a website offering great discount deals for dads.
Check out Ready for Ten
Ready for Ten has a new summer fun category all about adventures you can enjoy with your family both inside and out. We'll be posting ideas about how to keep your family entertained, so do check back and have a look.
Are you a little apprehensive about how you are going to fill the next six weeks? Do you have any tips for making summer a little easier for parents?
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28 July, 2011
I love the summer hols because there's no toing and froing every day between school and pre-school. Luckily my eldest son's schoolfriends live locally so it's easy for him to meet up with them in the holidays. I find the children need some downtime to do what they want rather than having their days filled with activities so we never overplan our time. Having good weather really helps, when it's raining it's hard for them to run off excess energy but that said we go go out in the rain because the children love to splash in the puddles. It's only me moaning about it!
13 October, 2011
I sent my kids to a summer camp (http://www.militaryschools411.com) last year and it was awesome. They had fun there because they were a lot of outdoor activities going on there.