admin If like me, you are over 40yrs old, there is a high probability that your mother was a stay-at-home mum. During those days, being a stay-at-home mum was the norm.
As a child, and living in St. Paul’s Bay, during the summer holidays my mum used to take my sister and I to the beach almost everyday…..at the cimenta (if you are from St Paul’s Bay you know where it is).
At the time, there were no summer school, therefore my mum used to try and keep us busy as much as possible…..she could have easily made use of the ‘I’m bored jar’ https://strugglingmum.com/2019/06/26/the-im-bored-jar/ .
Our summer routine was pretty simple:
- 800am Mass;
- House chores;
- Beach;
- Lunch (either at home or at the kiosk at the cimenta);
- Watch cartoons;
- Read and revise;
- Dinner;
- Play cards / Board games on the terrace with my mother;
- Bed
I remember complaining to my mother, about having to go to Mass at 800am because I wanted to sleep in. Life was so relaxed and calm….we had everything.
Moving forward to today, I look back and compare my childhood to my kids childhood, in particular to the summer holidays. I wish I could give them the childhood of when I was young…going to the beach almost everyday, eating hobz biz-zejt etc
My routine and theirs to a certain extent does not change because it’s summer. As a mum who works outside the home, it does not mean that just because it’s summer, I don’t go to work.
My working hours still remain the same, so my kids still have to wake up early to go to summer school, they spend their day at summer school (including extra hours). I still have to prepare lunches every single day. The major difference is that we don’t have homework.
It is true that I can take vacation leave, but let’s be honest with school meetings, concerts, sick children, no school days (for whatever reason), Easter holidays and Christmas holidays, vacation leave vanishes like a flash.
Though, I can take the kids to the beach after work…..honestly, after work I do not have the energy, to
- Go home – which I have to do in any case;
- Feed the kids – which I have to do in any case;
- Pack everything;
- Go to the beach, with a high probability that I will get stuck in traffic;
- Stay for 2 hrs;
- Go back home;
- Have dinner / wash dishes;
- Prepare lunches for the following day;
- Give kids a bath after the beach – which I have to do in any case;
- Put them to sleep – which I have to do in any case;
All the above with the assumption that no one has a melt down. I do not think that the following morning I would be able to get up at 530am and the kids at 630am. Maybe it is doable on a Friday.
It does not mean that as a mother working outside the house, we do not have fun during the summer holidays, but the routine does not change much.
So, if you are a stay-at-home, make the most of the summer holidays.
Love
Strugglingmum XXX
