So - it's the summer holidays - six weeks of sorting out the children, keeping them entertained, feeding them all day long and sorting out the battles - doesn't sound much fun does it!
Everywhere I go at the moment, I hear people complaining that there are another four weeks to go and the kids are bored already. Or I ask a friend round to play and their mother is so grateful because he/she is getting fed up with their brother/sister being home all day long and it is causing nothing but arguments!
Summer Holidays as a parent is so much different than as a child. I remember at least a week of anticipation before the much enjoyed six weeks off. I can't really remember putting my mother and father under any pressure to take me anywhere. My Dad worked hard - he worked in a factory on a night shift, did a milk round when he came back in from work and also did a pools round - but there wasn't much money around and I knew that.
We didn't go on holiday every year as children nowadays seem to expect - we certainly didn't go abroad or to some fancy holiday camp like Centerparcs or even Butlins! I remember going to my Uncles caravan in Wales once and I was allowed to take a friend. We didn't have a car , so we borrowed the next door neighbours - it was quite common when I was a child - borrow one or hire one.
I also remember one year that money must have been particularly short, because I was given a choice - I could go on a Mystery Trip on a train (something I had always wanted to do) OR, I could have a Sheena doll - one of those whose hair you pull out with a wheel and push back in with a button - I chose the Sheena doll and remember carrying the box with pride. I remember the doll being a good choice because it rained the whole holidays , so a mystery trip on a train would have been a washout.
The Sheena doll is still at my Mum and Dad's house - some 35 years or more later - that's how much it meant to me.
The rest of the holidays would be spent doing simple things - and most days, I would be found playing with cutout figures from my Uncles old catalogue, or - when I got a bit older - out on my bike. There were a group of us and we were just out all day - we would ride for miles and play daft games that meant nothing to anyone - Starsky and Hutch round the street and in the garage - or dancing to Donna Summer, pretending to be Pans People in my friends living room!
We would eat tea wherever we landed and then at half past eight on the dot we would hear the scream of Mrs Davenport - "Maaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnndddddddddddddyyyyyyy". That was the cue for us all to go home - my Mum would meet me at the bottom of the hill - everyone else lived on the same street.
I dont think that we cost our Mums any money - or caused them any trouble. I can't remember any arguments or sulking - I cant remember waking up every morning and saying to my Mum "What are we doing today?" I can't remember expecting to be entertained and I certainly can't remember her driving me from place to place to keep me occupied .
People say that things were different then - that now we are so aware of awful things that might happen that we dont let our children out of our sight. But I think that it is more than that.
I think children in general have so much and get so much done for them that they have forgotten how to think for themselves and how to entertain themselves - they have this urge to be entertained the whole time.
Which is why so many people hate the school holidays. Money is tight at the moment all round and the pressure of entertaining the children for six weeks brings the worry of how much it might all cost.
Children wake up wanting something - to go bowling or to go to the cinema, or to a theme park - its not very often these days that they will wake up asking if they can go out on their bike to make a den in the local woods - these activities are too simple for this sophisticated world that we live in.
And if parents both work, childcare is an even bigger issue. When I was at school very few Mums worked or if they did they did shifts early in the morning before the Dads went to work and while the children were fast asleep in their beds. Many women work now but childcare is very expensive. To pay for childcare for six weeks could cost £600 or more and if you have more than one child then it may just be unaffordable.
This means that Mums and Dads have to stagger their holidays to try and cover the whole six weeks, so there is little or no family time and often they have to call on friends and family to help out.
I am lucky. I work term-time only, so I don't have any childcare issues and I am happy to look after my son's friends in the holiday - he is an only child and so the company does him good. But my son also likes to take part in things in the holidays - especially if his friends are doing all sorts of exciting things. He has enrolled on a cricket course which costs £80 for one week - the theatre school he would like to do costs £160. This year I feel mean because I have put a stop to the theatre school - but why should I feel mean! I am at home and there is absolutely no need for me to pay this money for him to be looked after - yet I am left feeling that he is a little left out!
Don't get me wrong - I LOVE the 6 weeks holiday. I have time with my son that I know a lot of people don't get - but I think that we all need to look at the way we are bringing up our children and what they expect from us.
When I was a child, there were lots of things I didnt have because Mum and Dad couldnt afford them. There were lots of places I didnt go because Mum and Dad didn't have a car. But I have all happy memories of my childhood, not sad ones. Playing outside with a gang of friends, going to the local park and riding my bike were enough. The six weeks holidays meant six weeks of seeing friends and having fun.
Perhaps if we encouraged children from an earlier age to entertain themselves a bit more and to walk to places or ride to places, then we wouldnt be stuck with six weeks of a taxi service.
I wanted my son to have more than I had as a child. But why? I was happy. I was loved. I was safe. What more can a child want?
In a world obsessed with gadgets and designer names from a young age, we need to revisit things.
Instead of worrying about money and how you are going to manage entertaining the children for the next six weeks , go back to basics.
Have a walk to the park and build a den - go to the local nearest field and have a game of rounders or football.
Only last Friday I took my son and his friend to the park and we made up a "Total Wipeout" course from the Park Equipment - it was the best fun we had had in ages and cost nothing.
Eat Picnics - nothing nicer. Go the riverbank with your picnic basket , make a rope swing and step along the stepping stones.
Make a Band - if the weather is bad, get in your mates garage and make some instruments - drums , maraccas and cardboard guitars - film yourself playing along to your favourite music.
Play It's a Knockout - build an obstacle course in the garden and challenge your neighbours or boys v girls.
When it's raining, camp out in the living room with Board Games - I know they are not so fashionable these days but get them out of the back of the cupboard, dust them off and use them again - there is much fun to be had with a game of Frustration, Ker Plunk or Scrabble - challenge each other, use your brain and laugh at the same time.
Make jigsaws out of stupid photos of your best friends , make scrapbooks of your favourite football teams or occasions - I spend a fortune on stickers and sticker books which are never completed and stay in the back of the cupboard - yet at my Mum and Dads house is still the scrapbook of when the local football team played at Wembley and of the Queen's Silver Jubilee.
Have a street sale - gather all your unwanted items and stand with your mates selling them from outside your house - use the money to have a street barbecue or to rent a DVD and buy loads of sweets with your friends!
There are all sorts of simple things you can do to have fun without having to go far or spend loads of money.
Of course - X box addicts reading this will think these activities are far too uncool to consider - but just try it..... you never know you may like it - and - do you know what - it will make your Mum and Dad move from hating the holidays - to loving them.