Summer Holidays are looming..................

The end of this week heralds the end of the school year here in France.   It is, therefore, the start of two months of purgatory for all parents who have to juggle work and family commitments.   My children range in age from nearly seventeen (emotional age of eight depending on whether he is getting his own way!!) via twins of nearly fourteen (I may as well have triplets!!) to a five year old who thinks she is fifteen!   I can't win and believe me everyday is a battle royal to keep them all on track.

Peace will reign supreme in my house if;

1. Oscar, my eldest is allowed to stay in his room all day, with full Internet access and a regular supply of tea!  
2. I am on hand 24/7 to play with my five year old daughter.
3. I have a bottomless purse with which to pay for countless trips to the cinema, museums, bowling etc... not to mention a limitless fuel tank for driving around Manche.

Unfortunately, for my children, we do not live in such utopia, I work from home and am not fortunate enough to be able to take two months off, I am neither wealthy enough to be able to fund limitless trips (if I was you would find me well ensconced at a very nice Thalasso therapy hotel not too far from here!!) nor inclined to let my eldest vegetate in his pit.   My little girl needs to know that she has a working mum and that I can't be on hand all the time to play.

That said, I will need to compromise on my work/family time to enable my kids to have some fun during the holidays.    When I was their age a bike and a picnic were all I needed, I spent all day out with friends (no mobile phones or computer games in those days!) we played in the woods and fields and if it rained watched old black & white movies on the TV and there were just four channels in those days (and yes I do remember when there were only three!). 

Luckily for us we are close to the beach, so weather permitting, we will be rock pooling and swimming in the sea.   I am sure I will find the Internet a source of invaluable information on how to keep them all entertained.   Failing that I will lock myself in my room with enough rations to last two months and wait out the siege!!!   In reality I will have to implement various methods to keep my sanity intact and their boredom in check.   Watch this space to read what draconian measures (in their eyes!) I have taken to ensure peace in our time!