As I sit at my desk writing this, my boys have just gone back after a very rainy school holiday 10 day half term. And I’m relishing the peace and quiet. Not even the husband is here working today. A house to myself for 6 whole hours. Bloody bliss.
I imagine many of you are enjoying the same stillness, after one of the wettest school holidays I can remember.
And the problem is, rain and school holidays are a fucking recipe for disaster, aren’t they? Well at least they are in my house.
Plans to spend a cheap and easy week at the park, playing basketball, on bike rides, exploring the grounds of National Trust properties, and kicking a ball around at the beach were somewhat washed out.
Replaced annoyingly by spending a whole heap of cash trying to entertain them.
Who wants to stay at home with three kids in a rainy school holiday?
With all the will in the world, it would take a saint to stay at home during a rainy school holiday and occupy three primary-aged boys – without it turning into one big fight, or without losing your mind.
I know there are parents among us who relish the idea of getting the craft gear out, the dressing up box, the baking, the junk modeling, the play doh, kinetic sand, or dare I even say it – the paints?!
I’ve been there, done that and got the sodding t.shirt. And it’s not my preferred option, I have to say. For a few reasons. Generally things like this end in tears within about 10 minutes, and I spend more time setting it up and clearing it away than the boys actually spend doing it.
They’re getting to an age now, especially my eldest who is 8 going on 18, where these kinds of things just don’t interest him. He absolutely does not want to do anything of the crafting/painting variety. He must get that from me!
Unless it’s something to do with basketball (his absolute obsession), PlayStation or Lego then he’s not bothered. Thank goodness we bought him an indoor basketball and hoop for Christmas – he spends hours in his bedroom playing with that. I’m just waiting for the whole bloody wall to be pulled down in an overexcited dunk!
One of the twins luckily loves drawing, so has spent a lot of half term copying pictures from the internet and doing online art tutorials – and he’s so good! But the other twin would happily sit and watch sodding YouTube all day if he was allowed to!
Lego is my saving grace during a rainy school holiday
The saving grace has been Lego. The one thing all 3 of them will actually sit down and concentrate on for more than 15 minutes. And luckily for them my husband is what can only be described as a Lego geek. His office is more like a Lego museum filled with display cabinets of models which happens to have a desk and computer squeezed in too. If you’ve been to my house you are now currently nodding knowingly. Cupboards are filled with unboxed Lego sets and our newly built garage (supposed to be for storage as we have no loft) is currently filling up nicely with even more Lego.
I have little interest in the stuff, and they all like to wind me up by threatening to buy me those awful (and awfully expensive) Lego flowers for special occasions (no thanks, I prefer real ones!) but I have to say the Other Half’s strict rules on it played a blinder this half term. Once a model is made and played with, if there’s no room for it to go on display in the boys’ bedrooms or the Office Lego Museum, it gets broken up again and stored in the original boxes. Because NOBODY IS ALLOWED TO THROW THE BOX AWAY!
I have spent many a time taking the mick out of this rule, but I won’t again. Yesterday on the last day of the holidays it saved me. I’d basically given up on organised fun, needed to do a bit of work – and ran out of money, hoping the boys would entertain themselves as it poured down outside. But my husband came to the rescue, letting them choose a ‘new’ model to build from the vast collection of old ones. It might have been from two or three Christmasses ago, but they didn’t care! Instructions downloaded online, and a peaceful hour was had.
Rainy school holidays are expensive!
The rest of the week has been full-on and expensive. Luckily Plymouth has a lot of indoor activities for children to enjoy. And I think we sampled a large proportion of them this half term! Bowling, cinema, laser tag, The Box, Clip n’ Climb, Woodlands, all-day basketball camps, watching Plymouth City Patriots play. All great fun, and my choice to do, but all expensive when you have three children! And that doesn’t even factor in the cost of my wine…
For sure there will be some people reading this shaking their heads, saying it’s my own fault for forking out on expensive activities. And yes it is.
We did the rainy beach day, we did the muddy National Trust walk. We did the cheap movie afternoon at home.
Unlike many of my friends I didn’t jet off abroad to sunnier climes or to Disneyland Paris or skiing. My husband worked the entire time and was in London for part of it. So us mums do what we need to do, right? And if that means getting loud, fighting kids out of the house by any means possible we do it!
But I’ll gladly invite you to come to mine next rainy school holiday to look after my three boys, and I’ll happily learn from you. I just don’t recommend the paints…
Let’s just hope the sun puts in an appearance by Easter. Or I’ll have to start saving for the wine I’ll need!
How did I do?
Did you enjoy this post? If so, you should check out more of the ‘usual’ type of stuff I write. Honest, relatable rants about parenting three young boys. With a touch of swearing and a lot of sarcasm. You’ll like it! Check out my Mum Life section or head to my Travel Section for some UK family holiday and days out inspiration.
If you like a bit of social media madness, pop over to my Facebook page where you’ll be able to have a laugh at what ridiculousness goes on in my house with three boys on a daily basis. Warning – there is often sarcasm, and usually swearing. There are also great travel reviews and the odd giveaway. Feel free to join my Twins, Tantrums and Cold Coffee – Shits and Giggles Parenting Group too, where everyone shares their hilarious stories.
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