The summer battles of Mum

As stay-at-home mums we are well aware of the battles we fight on a daily basis. Teenage tantrums, tween strops, not to mention them both eating you out of house and home! But when it comes to the summer holidays, when you’re stuck with the kids at home for six whole weeks during the hottest time of the year there’s a whole host of new battles to fight.



Activity time


During the summer months the kids expect to be entertained. It could be days out to an aquarium, day trips to the zoo, or even weekends away in exotic (or not so exotic) locations. Finding things to do is a battle in itself, especially when you’ve already done everything locally during the other school breaks in the year. You spend hours on end searching for new things to do or to take them to and when you think you’ve finally found something they inform you they’re not interested. 


Two boys walk away from the camera towards a castle at Alton Towers theme park.



Keeping the kids busy


You’ve spent days out, you’ve been to the zoo, to aquariums, you’ve even taken them to the local park. And there’s still FIVE WEEKS of holidays left. Because it’s not all about the day trips and leaving the house is it? They expect to be entertained when they’re at home too! I always try to make sure I have movies planned, activity books (for the tween), and other things waiting in the wings. 





Summer means happy times and good sunshine. It means going to the beach, going to Disneyland, having fun. 

Brian Wilson





Food


Food, food, and more food. The kids will want snacks at 9am, after just having breakfast, they’ll want something good and tasty for lunch, and they’ll want something even better for dinner. I find that we go through much more food during the summer, and yes, obviously it’s because they’re at home for all three meals but it’s also because they eat more too. And it’s not just about the amount of food they’re eating but the type of food too. There’s only so many packs of crisps they can eat, and you closely watch the number of sweets they eat. Trying to get them to eat fruit is another battle in itself, but one you try to fight occasionally.


Cinnamon rolls and pain au chocolate laid out on a wooden table. Breakfast for the family.



Boredom


Boredom is an inevitable part of the summer holidays unfortunately. There will come a time when your children get bored. They’ll have played their games, watched movies, had days out, weekends away, played with friends, and then finally they’ve come to the end of their list and they’re not quite sure what to do with themselves. That’s when the bickering and fighting start - with each other. They seem to turn on one another and think that fighting is a way to entertain themselves - and you have to be referee!





Summer is the annual permission slip to be lazy. To do nothing and have it count for something. To lie in the grass and count the stars. To sit on a branch and study the clouds. 

Regina Brett




The kids behaviour


Towards the end of the holidays, when they’ve been out of routine for a while and have had far too much time to themselves the kids’ behaviour takes a nose dive. My two do not do well without routine, eventually their behaviour gets bad and I have to make rules to ensure they get it in check. I know it’s the lack of routine that is messing with them but I also know they are well aware how to behave and are choosing not to. It’s times like this when I make them go to bed earlier than usual so they can get used to a routine again, or I say we’re having a “normal day” at home. It’s not easy when their behaviour goes bad, when they decide they’ve had enough of everything and just want to play up. It gets everyone in a bad mood and change a good day into a terrible one.


Boys fight while waiting in line for a monorail at Chester Zoo.



Back to school


Finally, school is on the horizon - but during the week before they go back you have a load of new battles to fight. Like getting them back into a proper routine, getting their school things ready for a new year, and preparing yourself for making packed lunches every day again. 


The summer battles of Mum - do you fight too?


To me though those last three words, “back to school”, are magical. After six weeks of fighting battles with the kids at home I’m finally ready to hand them back to the teachers and get my peace and quiet back during the day. 

What summer battles do you fight?


If you enjoyed reading this post why not check out The Battles of Mum, or if you're done fighting battles for the day you could read Why it's awesome being a mum to tweens/teens.

I'd love to hear how you cope with fighting summer battles - come connect with me over on Facebook and we can chat!

I'm here to celebrate your wins so when you win one of your battles let me know and join my #MumWinning Revolution!