Keeping small people busy this summer

Last updated: 04/08/2015 09:00 by LucyKennedyMummy to LucyKennedyMummy's Blog
Filed under: Mums Love Lucy
Just three weeks into the summer holidays and I was already pretty exhausted ! Anyone feel the same?
 
I sometimes feel like a holiday rep, standing in front of them after they’ve had their brekkie and announcing what we’re doing for the day in a very chirpy voice. I would consider myself to be an energenic, fun, lively mum with buckets of energy and ideas but my two children are slowly but surely taking me down to Chinatown. Every night I conk out and sleep soundly.
 
In my day, myself and my two sisters were either eating picnics and building sandcastles on the beach from 9 until 6, at home playing with friends/cousins for the day or in the back garden. I honestly never remember feeling bored or saying that I was bored. We always found ways to play games and we invented them as we went along.
 
Nowadays, trying to keep two children occupied is almost a full time job and I know I'm not alone in feeling that way. Now don't get me wrong, Jack (5) and Holly (3) are really fantastic children, great fun and not spoilt at all BUT I do find that by Week 3 of their summer holidays, they need constant entertainment! If they’re not fighting, they are hugging or they want what the other one has the whole time! I’ve had to become a mediator, referee, counsellor and judge, as well as the usual: taxi, nurse, chef, games coordinator and cleaner.
 
 
We're very lucky – we live near Dun Laoghaire so I have access to water and fast! We go to the beach and collect stones, build sandcastles or paddle. We also live near a park and playground so we go for a walk or scoot over there now and again and feed the ducks. I have plenty of close pals who live near and are at the same stage as me, who come over to us once a week for playdates and coffee. We actually keep each other sane as six-to-eight small people run around us! 
 
As special once-off treats, we’ll go to Dublin Zoo, Tayto Park or Glenroe Farm but there's the financial side of things too. Entrance fees into these places, food and drinks, it soon adds up. When you're out, you end up buying stuff even when you bring a packed picnic. And then there are the couple of weeks they attend summer camp. It's amazing for them and they love it, but again it's more dosh. 
 
 
I'm not fond of iPads and digital tablets for children, to be honest. I understand that maybe for a flight or long journey, that they can be useful, but their little eyes straining to see a small screen and their minds working overtime? I would much rather see my two running around or playing. I should have shares in playdoh and crayola for the amount I spend on these creative crafts.
 
So what's the answer? Do we just accept the fact that modern children need more, expect more, demand more and that's just the way it is? Or do we lecture them on a daily basis about how lucky they really are. That's what I do! These days, by the time I get into TV3 at 4.30pm to do my second job, I look like I've slept in a field!
 
Keep the faith, mums; we're all in the same boat!
 
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