Woman’s Own – 19 August 2019

WORDS:

KARA

O’NEILL,

PAULA

ROBINSON.

PHOTOS:

GETTY

*SURVEY CARRIED OUT BY CAMP BEAUMONT

Bythetimemyboys
breakupforsummer,
theyareexhausted.For
thefirstcoupleofweeks,
it’sallaboutcatchingup
onsleepandgettinginto
agoodroutine.Thenwe
canreallystartenjoying
ourselveswhentheboys
arefullofenergyand
notboggeddownwith
homeworkprojects.
Iknowsomeparentssayit’s
impossibletogetannualleave
tocoverthefullsixweeks,
butschoolisn’tababysitting
service.It’syourresponsibility
touseyourleaveormakesure
thatchildcareiscovered.
I’dactuallypreferitifthe
schoolholidayswerelonger.
TheboyswereborninSweden
andspenttheirfirstfewyears^
there,wherethesummer
holidaysare^10 weeks,andI
don’tthinkthat’sunreasonable.
Butit’llneedatotalsocietal
changebeforethathappens.
As a mum, I want to make^

asmanymemorieswithmy

boysasIcan,andthesummer

holidaysaretheperfecttime

todothat.Iloveplanningfun

activities,takingthemswimming,

orjustbakingathome.Ican’t

dothatifthey’reconstantlyat

school–andthey’retootired

intheevenings,afterafullday

oflessons,tobebothered.

I’mluckyenoughtobea

full-timemum,butitwasn’tan

easydecisionandit’smeant

abigcutinincomeforour

household.Butit’sbeenworth

it.EverymomentIgettospend

withmychildrenisprecious,and^

I’ll never take it for granted.

No Ye s

‘Schoolisn’ta

babysittingservice’

‘Wewon’tallbe

togetherasafamily’

NicolaJRowley,45,isaPRstrategistand

founderoftheWorkingMumAssociation.

ShelivesinHershamwithherhusband,

Matthew,48, and their son, James, five.

SinceJamesstartedschool

lastSeptember,Ifeelhis

holidaysareallIcanthink

about.Andthesix-week

onecausesmethemost

anxiety.Ihadtostart

planningforitmonths

agobecausethere’sno

waymeormyhusband

willbeabletotakethe

wholetimeoffwork.

Instead,we’vegota

tag-teamsystem,where

oneofustakesthefirst

week,theothertakesover

onthenext,withtheodd

fewdaysofsummercamp

thrownintomakeupfor

thedaysthatneitherofus

canhaveoff.Itmeansthat,

thissummer,bothmine

andmyhusband’sannual

leavewillbeallbutused

up–andwewon’thave

beenabletosharemuch

ofittogetherasafamily.

We’renotinaposition

to rely on grandparents,

andwesimplycannotafford

childcareforthewholesummer

break,soouronlyoptionhas

beentoworkitoutbetween

thetwoofus.Twoorthree

weekswouldbesufficient,in

myopinion,toallowchildren

towinddownandhavefun.

Noparentcangeta

six-weekholidayfromtheirjob

(exceptteachers!),soitmakes

nosensethatthisisthe

allowanceourkidsget.For

workingparents,itisn’tviable,

andchangesneedtobemade.

✱Forinfo,checkout

workingmumassociation.com

HeatherBryson-Banks,42,lives

inShepton

Malletwithherhusband,Wayne,

42,and

their sonsRowan, nine, and Harry, seven.

Should the school

holidays be shorter?

Aquarterof

parentsdread

takingtimeoffto

lookaftertheir

kidsduringthe

six-week break...

Thelongholiday

isanorganisational

headache for Nicola

Heather

lovesplanning

funactivities

with her boys

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