Lesson in survival
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Ah the school holidays, perfect one day - perfectly ghastly the next....and the next...will we ever learn?
To all the parents out
there, are you experiencing school holiday bliss or not so much?
I always go into these
holidays so excited. I mean what’s not to love? It is Christmas, it’s Summer,
we get to sleep in and have long lazy days. Each year I seem to forget that by
the end of week two I am starting to feel a little on edge, patience levels not
so good, my voice is getting a little crankier. The kids seem to have taken a
pill that turns them feral and makes me question if they even belong to me.
The endless questions,
requests for food and sibling squabbles over super important things like who
plays with what Barbie are doing my head in. Trying to decide on a movie that
all 3 want to watch is like watching a really bad comedy. If only those were my
biggest problems in life.
Even though a plethora
of new books, toys, crafty items, new apps and even a puppy arriving in the
house does not stop the “ I am bored” statement leaving their lips every few
minutes. Really guys? ‘In my day’ I had a few dolls, a few books, a black and
white TV with 4 stations and no devices. Like they care when I talk about the
‘olden days’
Sometime last year
they sneakily introduced lunch dessert into our lives. So now, not only do I
have to contend with running a café for 3 kids with different palates for each meal,
I also have to introduce a lunch dessert menu. Why didn’t I say NO the first
time instead of indulging my little treasures to believe this is normal.
Who sits in the front
seat of the car has also started record breaking “its not fair” scenarios. If
someone’s day falls on a long drive to Melbourne or away on holiday then World
War 3 is starting. I try to do some negotiating. “how about you all get a 3rd
each” Nope that’s not fair to the person who’s day it is. The only way to solve
this is to let the puppy have the front seat 7 days a week.
I thought keeping up
with housework and laundry during the school year was a challenge, it has
reached epic proportions. We currently have no couch to sit on from the amount
of clothing they are going through. Miss L seems to think our house is a Paris
runway show and changes clothes no fewer than 4 times a day and manages to get
something smeared on every single item. I have decided to just give in, take
deep breathes and make peace with the mess.
I start feeling guilty
that I have a secret countdown of how many days it is till school goes back.
Shouldn’t I be enjoying every available moment with my kids? On a visit to Westfield, it took all of
about 3 minutes to realise that most of the population is struggling to keep
control of their offspring. I bumped into one school Mum who was dragging her 5 year old child having an epic meltdown along the
ground to keep up with the other 2 who were running ahead. In every single
aisle of Big W I heard a Mother at the end of her rope. Multiple requests to
not hit your sister, stop pulling clothes off the rack, no we can’t buy new
toys, please get off the ground, stop climbing on the shelves.
We give each other a
nod in understanding that this too will pass and normal life will resume on the
30th of January, not that we are counting.
This column ran in Saturday 25th January 2014 GT, in the Geelong Advertiser.
On a lighter note, we did have a fabulous Summer holiday. So great to spend time with my babies. It did go very fast.
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