How To Be More Relaxed During The School Summer Holidays

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The long summer school holidays are something that a lot of people initially look forward to. Whether you’re a teacher or a parent (or perhaps both), you’ll be excited that there isn’t any more homework to help with, and you don’t have to get up so early to get everyone ready for school. You won’t even have to leave the house some days, depending on where you work and what the kids are doing. It all sounds wonderful, but then it happens, and after a few days, no one really knows what to do, and it can all get very tense. The good news is, even if this is what usually happens, you can stop it and make those weeks off school over the summer something to enjoy. Read on to find out more.

Photo by Agung Pandit Wiguna

Prepare In Advance

One of the best things you can do if you want everyone - including you - to have a relaxing summer holiday away from school is to prepare it in advance. That might not sound like much fun, but in reality, it’s going to save a lot of confusion, arguments, and boredom down the road.

Begin by working out if you’re going to have any day trips and what days would be best to enjoy them on - book those days in the calendar and work out where you’ll go (that means you can buy tickets in advance if you need to, which can save you money). Also think about food; you’re all going to have to eat, and whether you need an on the go lunch for those days out, you’re grilling on the barbecue at home, or you just want to make sure you’ve got enough snacks for everyone to see you through, you can make a list and ensure you don’t forget anything. Finally, think about spending some time by yourself - you can book that in the calendar too.

Once you know precisely what you’ll be doing each day, even if it’s nothing at all except enjoying being at home, you’ll have things to look forward to and plans in place to ensure ti all gets done.

Make Your Home Lovely

As we said above, you’ll be at home some (and probably most) of the time during the school summer holidays, and if you want to relax, it’s wise to make sure your home is as lovely and comfortable as possible.

Before the holiday starts, take some time to declutter your home so you only have the things you really want and need in it, and make sure everything is tidy and organised. It might also be a good idea to designate some areas as ‘tech-free’, so you can really unplug when you need to and not get stressed out by seeing what everyone else is doing on social media and then comparing your summer to theirs. The kids can also benefit from tech-free time, so make sure they know they can use that space too.

Be Spontaneous

It’s true we did say that planning the holidays was important, but strange as it might seem, you can be spontaneous at the same time. You might have an afternoon with nothing to do, so you decide to take everyone out for ice cream or for a walk in the park, for example. Or perhaps you planned a day out, but you’re all too tired, or the weather’s bad; switch your plans and have a day at home playing games or reading together instead.

Adding a little flexibility to your summer holiday can make it a lot more fun, and if the majority of it is planned, it won’t be stressful, either.