I have been reading lots of posts this week about what you all have been up to keeping your young kids entertained over the half term. trips to the park, crafting, building dens, walking in the woods/ beach etc and I remember the days when each school holiday ‘day’ was planned to a tee!
We have never been flush with cash so it has always been keeping the kids entertained on a budget. We have done the beach days, picnics in or out depending on weather, friends for tea, meeting up at the park and so on.
But my boys are now teenagers! This brings a whole new way of looking at things. They are no longer ‘excited’ to go to a park or a walk in the woods or picnics or God forbid ‘crafting’! Those days are long gone and I can mourn for those all I want but it wont bring them back. I have to now embrace the teenage style holidays which in itself is another kind of torture.
So to prepare some of you for the years to come…..
Ways to know you are a mum to teenagers on holidays
* Your eldest is the one who makes your morningΒ coffee
* Your teens of a certain age will stay up later than you can manage most evenings
* Your weekly food shop will Β only last 3 days if your lucky
* The smell that hits you as you ‘take your life in your own hands’ to enter their rooms to check if they are still alive will knock you on your back and haunt your memory forever
* By the end of the day you have no idea how many extra bodies will be sleeping in your house
* Your life will totally depend on whether you let the bottles of Coke run dry!
* It doesn’t matter what you plan it will be met with a grunt- if your lucky
* Your expectation of any gratitude for feeding their friends, providing a free taxi service and having a ‘magic wallet’ full of money is no longer on your radar
* You become less of the organiser and more of the ‘payer’ when it comes to any arrangements
* You get immense joy from the fact you have secretly managed to get their bedding off, washed, dried and put back on while they were out and didn’t notice
There are many, many more but I will save those little gems for later. I used to let this worry me but not any longer. After talking to lots of mums I realise this is the world of the ‘teenager’ so it’s not something I have done wrong- it’s just LIFE!
Sigh. I feel your pain. Happiness is now Boxed Set shaped… I remember the days when ‘let’s take the dogs for a walk!’ was greeted with cries of excitement, now I trudge the fields solo in the hail while the TV is never turned off. Oh well.
Yeah I do the boxed set thing too lol- gave up fighting with them to go do something- now they arrange their own time, works brilliantly although it’s kind of lonely π
So this is what lies ahead! Hope you managed a good week!
Oh yes it’s been good, no meltdowns or anything it’s just changing! Kind of miss the old days yet liking their independence and what we can get up to now π Hope your half term gone well x
hahaha! Great post!
I have a tween which is bad enough….I’m dreading the teenage years x
Hopefully this will make you feel more normal when it does creep up on you- mind you I can only vouch for boys, wondering if girls would be any better? π
π very true, I have managed the bed trick today…
Everything becomes a secret mission when they go out!! But getting the stinky beds done is a miracle π
I love the last one π
We’ve got 4 of them here – I don’t try and plan anything usually that involves them! Although we did manage to take 3 to the cinema today with us… π
I like your thinking! Mind you, you did well with the cinema though- did they not argue over what they wanted too see π
Thanks for sharing this. It’s good to know what lies ahead! With three kids aged 12, 10 and 7, I’m beyond the making debs and crafting, but we’re still a way off this stage!
At least when it does happen for you, you will know it’s normal lol!
All so true except mine is a nightmare to get out of bed in a morning (well, afternoon!). Great post!!
Mines aren’t too bad at that- they will get up about 9ish but they don’t attempt getting in the shower until lunchtime!! π
Ha great post, we go shopping and think surly this will last a week? few days later the cupboards/fridge is empty π
I’m not to bad Claire during term time at the food but when they are off they just eat and eat and eat π
Oh yes, I get ALL of those! Well, except for the morning cuppa… how on earth did you manage that??!! xx Jazzy
That would be my only perk of having M.E lol they all know I need my coffee before I can function……..literally! They have become great coffee makers π