He Says She Says 29/07/10

This week: The summer holidays are here!

He Says:

So the summer holidays are upon us and it’s six weeks off for the kids and just in the nick of time. They were getting a bit crabby and as any teacher will tell you, this is often the case just before the end of term. This is the time they should be winding down, spending quality time with their parents and taking the opportunity to have a lie in and not have to get up early for the school run.

I have enjoyed some quality time with my offspring recently, from making pancakes to scuba diving, and it’s a chance for me to enjoy the little bundles of joy that have cost me so much over the years. To say the kids enjoy summer camps is perhaps a fair comment but if you were to offer the kids a house of there own with just their friends living with them eating what they want and no dedicated bed time I’m sure they would happily say yes to that too.

To be honest I doubt my kids would opt to spend time with my wife and I rather than do stuff with their friends if asked but when pushed into spending quality time with us we have a great time. My point is that if you ask your kids if they want to spend time doing fun things without you they’ll say yes - but if you can find the time to do stuff with them then they’ll have great memories when looking back.

I fully understand that working parents may not just be able to get time off work just because their little angels have broken up and so it may be a necessity to send them to a camp or summer school activity. If you have the chance to spend the time I urge you to take it because they grow up so quick and it may leave you with regrets that when they reach an age that they no longer want fun days out you look back and wished you hadn’t packed them off.

She Says:

I’m not a big fan of the summer holidays and I’m sure if more mums were truthful instead of trying to act like super mum they would say the same.

I don’t think it’s any different whether you have to go to work or if you’re a stay at home mum, the six weeks are just a pain. All I get everyday is,  ‘what time are you coming home from work’ and ‘when you get home what are we doing’ and for stay at home mums they must dread waking up to here the words, ‘where are we going today mum?’

So when there was an opportunity for my daughter to go to summer camp for the first week of the holidays I jumped at it. Obviously it’s not just for my benefit, it’s also for my daughter Lily too. The experience of five full days of dancing, singing and drama and being taught by some amazing professional performers is just brilliant and to spend time with her friends doing something they all really enjoy, who could ask for more?

Whatever it is that your child is into whether it be tennis, football or athletics a few days out of their six weeks off is going to give them more pleasure than it will pain. I saw a group of kids yesterday leaving a football camp with huge grins on their faces telling their parents all about what they had done, how lovely and that’s how it is when Lily comes out.

There’s plenty of time for me to spend time with my daughter still, its only five days out of six weeks and we will be going to the beach and up to Hockley woods with her friends for picnics and all other kinds of days out, so we will have as much fun as possible in the holidays together after summer school.

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