10 Top tips to survive the summer holidays with kids

1. Get up and do work before your kids get up – This is slightly easier for me now with a teenager in the house.
2. Stick with your Monday – Friday schedule working say 7-3pm and take the afternoon off if you can. Tell them what time you will be finishing.
3. Ask the kids what they would like to do in their summer holidays and have a mix of simple things you don’t have to pay for like going to the beach or woods with day trips out. I do get a bit over enthusiastic in the beginning and that soon relaxes. I lived on the beach as a child as our home was 5 metres from the sea and had simple needs, I still find it incredibly soothing to hang out there now, it’s my ‘go to’ therapy.
4. Don’t over schedule, I think it is really important to give your kids their own time, a bit like teaching them to fall asleep by themselves it is equally important that they learn what they like. If they are being over stimulated all the time their brain is in overload, kids don’t need to be visiting every safari and entertainment park. Read this article
5. Don’t always feel the need to cook, a picnic tea on the beach with marshmallows or in the garden will be more memorable.
6. Keeping your language positive, “that’s a great idea, I love it, lets see when we can do that” works better that “not now”
7. Try meditation, I find I need meditation more that ever in the holidays, but it works better if you can make it a regular practice rather than when you are ready to tear your hair out. There are lots of apps, Calm, Insight timer or music on YouTube. Find what works best for you if it’s a guided one or just music.
8. Find something that you enjoy doing, and let your kids know that parents need to do what they love too. If it’s about them all the time then they are not going to respect your time.
9. Carve out some time for yourself too whether it’s a coffee with a friend or a walk with a podcast in your ear.
10. Don’t forget how awesome you are – tell yourself frequently! light a candle and open a bottle of bubbly.

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