Dear Working Parents,
Iโm a Stay at Home Mum and itโs the school holidays, and I know some of you may be envious of my โoccupationโ at this exact moment, but please donโt be.
I mean, I feel blessed, I truly do, I have the luxury of spending the time with my children and I have the choice to do whatever we want to do, and I do try to make it fun and memorable for them.
But hereโs the issue:
We sometimes take the time with our kids for granted
Working Mumsโฆ thereโs a catch, us Stay at Home Mums sometimes take things for granted, thereโs always tomorrow, thereโs more time, I donโt have to make the kidsโ lunches today I have HEAPS of timeโฆ oh, and my personal favourite โgosh, look at the mess they created yesterday, I really must clean that upโ. With โstay at homeโ comes mess, and if youโre me, thereโs lots of it. See, I thrive on creating amazing memories for the kids, I pull out the paint, the toys, the craft materials and anything else that once had a place in the house and I try really, really hard to create those amazing memories.
They often last maybe 40 minutes, sometimes my children have the focus of a goldfish and the preparation and mess doesnโt quite equate to the โexpected memoryโ.
Then the cleaning comes, and it lasts the rest of the day and I hate to admit it, but sometimes, yes sometimes (itโs really rare I promise *gulp* *rolling eyes* *looking shady*), whilst Iโm doing it, my kids have their noses stuck in technology. The shock, the horrorโฆ. But Iโm speaking the truth.
Kids want what they canโt have
Donโt get me wrong, we go places and do amazing things, but thereโs another catch, my kids often say โMama, can I go to school holiday care? All of my friends will be there!โ and then I feel guilty that Iโm depriving them of the memories of the majority, the chance to just chill with their buddies in stock standard school holiday care. Apparently THAT is the most fun you can have. Who knew?
You on the other hand, have the guilt of not being with your children, I feel it with you, Iโd have it too if I were you. Honestly, I think I have it easier than you do, I have some choices that you donโt, but Iโm afraid I probably donโt appreciate what I have at times (Iโll do better tomorrow I promise).
Focused attention wins every time
Working Mum, I wonder if youโre different to me. I wonder if youโre so guilty that you make every second with your kids count, whereas maybe I donโt. โMum, can you play Minecraft with me?โ โLater honey, let me just get lunch on the tableโ. โMum, can you jump on the trampoline with me?โ โLater honey, let me just clean up the nerf gun bullets and paint from the last activity that lasted 5 secondsโ.
Iโm home with them all the time, I am, but Iโm not sure they are getting the true benefit of that, I wonder whether youโre more present than I am when youโre with your kids because youโre missing them and I have them all the time. Iโll try harder tomorrow, I swear.
Working Mum School Holiday Guide
Working Mums, Iโm sorry that you feel bad so Iโve put together some suggestions on how to make the school holidays special for your kids, I think maybe Iโve discovered things that you havenโt.
Iโve discovered that itโs not the amount of time you spend with them, itโs the amount of time that you are 100% focused on them, when you are truly with them and not distracted. Iโm sorry that sometimes I waste this opportunity when youโre craving it.
I know your time is limited, so hereโs some suggestions on how you can make your school holidays special, with the limited time you have, and after hours time at that!:
- Head to see the glow worm caves
- Look for disco nights at ice skating and roller skating rinks
- Look for disco nights at play centres (like Tiddlywinks, if youโre on the North side of Brisbane).
- Look for movie nights at swimming pools
- Look for movie nights at parks, the Brisbane City Council (and Moreton Bay and Gold Coast) have fantastic movies playing, particularly in summer.
- Go to the movies
- Replicate a camping experience with glow sticks on the trampoline or in the bathtub and marshmallows toasted over a table top gas burner
- Head to the local playground and play spotlightโฆ remember that? Soooo exciting.
But seriously, do you need to go over the top like this? Remember that I discovered something that maybe you havenโt? Itโs that all the activities in the world donโt mean as much as one on one time with you. Itโs the simple stuff theyโll remember.
Working Mama, make a big deal of allowing your child to stay up late, bring out the pillow and blankets, make a homemade pizza with them and some cupcakes (of course theyโll decorate them and youโll let them put on way too much icingโฆ but youโll just smile and ignore it).
But thereโs one thing that will make it special working Mama, ditch your phone, ditch the cleaning, ignore everyone and focus on your babyโฆ theyโll remember that I promise.
Thank you Stay at Home Mama โค๏ธ
Beautiful!