Do You Remember The 1st Day Of The Summer School Holidays?

School, you only appreciate it after you've left it...

Many a car roof will be the bearer of an unbelievable amount of luggage. Many road maps will be bought or downloaded and many cooler boxes will be packed with sandwiches for the road trip. The annual family holiday to the sea-side, mountains or just a campground. The main thing is to have a holiday together.

This change of routine, even starting with packing the chariot for this annual trip, is a highlight in itself. All the frantic shouting that goes hand in hand with packing a " mobile household " into the family car is welcomed as it means the holiday traffic light is changing from amber to green. Many questions ( outrageous & stupid ) will be bantered back and forth between parents:

" Honey, where are my blue shorts / wheel spanner /
slops / sunglasses / passport / kids? "

" Wherever you placed them last, dear! "
The ideal answer...

" Do I have to do everything around here? Look for it yourself! "
A more realistic reply?

That feeling of going on holiday is the best when you are a kid. Even looking forward to building sand castles, meeting other kids and just not having to go to school. Of course, good luck to parents of teenagers and whisking them away from their staples: Internet, a separate room to be moody in and their friends is far from easy. Somehow, teenagers aren't as thrilled with building sand castles...go figure!

Not every family can or wants to go away on holiday but even staying at home has everyone glad for this break form a tiresome school routine...waking up to get your offspring ready for the school bus can't be much fun. Running around organizing lunch boxes, homework, and finding lost library books can make any Mum's life stressful. I have a sneaking suspicion that Mums have their own countdown to summer holidays and it possibly starts the 1st day of the school year!

The kids in our village are looking forward to spending afternoons at a local swimming bath
( a man-made nature lake ) complete with a few rounds at the tuck shop for ice cream cones, sweets and candies. Late night sessions on their Play-station, X-box or Wii will make them sleep late most mornings.

One of the Mums from the English class, has suggested a overnight ( English ) camping expedition for her boys in our backyard. Bob's rather keen to put up tents and tell scary stories while roasting marshmallows over the camp fire. In fact, he has an ideal vision which of course I dispelled for him rather quickly:

" You know Bob, to make it a realistic outdoor experience for the boys, you'll have to use the long drop in our garden... "

Biggi