I had been counting the days for a kids summer holidays to begin and trust me not in a good welcoming way, but kind of dreading it. I know it is not politically correct to say so but the thought of having kids home for two whole months is actually scary.
As a working Mom of two girls under 6 years of age, school is the biggest saviour and
i dread summer holidays. I mean what do I do with both of them at home full day? I have been praying for some magic, may be the government will announce that summer holidays are no longer valid ( if you take fees you need to keep school open) or something! But nothing happened, fairies don’t exist it seems!
Now that we are into the vacations this is what is happening in my life.
I think I need a clone I seriously do!: I am totally torn between work and kids. Obviously I can’t just take off from the office for 8 weeks of summer holidays , as it is men in office are always cribbing about women wanting leave all the time ! At times I feel like wiping that smirk off their faces with a broom. They have it real easy, no primary responsibility of childcare and playing the victim in office too. I must say here that the level of gossip which goes about women in the men’s group in office beats any women’s group, I mean women beyond a point don’t talk about men, they have better topics to talk about……..you guessed it nannies and day care! So every day while I am in office I am not really in office and when I home I am trying to make myself feel better by pretending to work from home! I am at peace nowhere. Clone please GOD!
Going crazy making additional arrangements for kids: Since my regular arrangements for childcare have gone for a complete toss in summer holidays and I have been knocking every possible door for nannies and day cares. I have finally made some arrangements .To add to my misery I have also installed CCTV with the app on my mobile which I have a compulsion to watch every few minutes, OK now they are going for poo poo , now they are eating, now sleeping uff its exhausting to say the least.
My day goes like this morning drop kids at summer camp ( only 3 weeks then?) afternoon rush out from office to pick them(Had to keep a driver as driving with two of them Impossible, come back school bus!) , leave them at home with a nanny from agency (they keep changing nannies every few days so more tension!}.Switch on CCTV camera on mobile ( add to stress) go to office, try to finish work at supersonic speed, finish it , look at cctv again, OMG the nanny is nowhere to be seen and my kids a busy tearing away my books. Stress, stress, stress! Oh well! Somehow finish office rush home, its 7.30 and nanny is already cribbing.
I have hardly hugged my kids and the cook is asking what to cook! What to cook? I feel this question should be banned, why just the question the kitchen itself should be banned. As soon as I have set the menu my elder daughter started off I don’t want to eat this! Can you believe this?
The next question is when will they sleep? Here again I am in a dilemma, if they sleep early they get up at six in the morning and day care begins only at 9.30 (School was at 7.30). If they sleep late then I am on duty till they sleep! Talk about catch 22.
My expenses are hitting the Roof: The cost of keeping the job and managing the kids in summer holidays is phenomenal to say the least! With the additional day care, summer camp, nanny and loads of pizazz being ordered it is really crazy. Not to count the CCTV installation and the additional driver. In fact we are taking a 10 day vacation to Mauritius because it seems that will be more economical. Taking vacation with small kids is another story, most of the time I am dead tired by the time I reach the destination.
To be honest even kids are fed up of being at home. We are trying our level best to entertain them but it is not easy. It is stressful, expensive and crazy. Hats off to the teachers who manage my kids for whole day. I seriously mean it!
Even with all this effort and stress I am on a major guilt trip. Summer holidays are a solid one way ticket to the guilt land. The other day I decided to take a day off to be with my kids. I thought I will play with them, cook for them, read to them, take them in the park and do some art and craft with them. I did all of the above and you know what, give me office any day! I mean I am crazy about my kids, love them to the moon and back but there is a big BUT.
Needless to add that I couldn’t sleep that night wondering if I was the only Mom who felt she couldn’t manage her kids for the whole day for 2 months! Every time I drop them at summer camp I feel bad, Every time I leave them to Nanny I feel bad, when they eat Day Care food I feel Bad, Bad, Bad. And to add insult to injury I had to skip a 3 week office training programme in Switzerland!
Research says summer holidays serve no purpose:I have been feeling so restless with it all these thoughts so I got on to Google and did a research which would make FBI proud. Yes it is true and official, Moms of kids under 10 actually suffer during the summer holidays and if you are a working Mom you suffer even more and put on at least 10 pounds by stress eating. (Babies please grow up fast at least till some of my hair is still black!)
Not only this the research now says long vacations actually create a gap in learning and kids can get a setback of about 12 weeks in language and maths/logic abilities. Whew! Finally I stand vindicated! Summer holidays are BAD for everybody except the schools perhaps! It’s should be done away with! (Vote for it Moms)
The phone rang just now it’s my brother , he wants to give all the kids….his and mine a vacation in Goa for 5 days, all by himself! Wow! I feel this sudden rush of energy. My vacation actually starts now! (I plan to be in station, watch movies, read and go out with my girlfriends! Am I the only one who goes delirious about this idea of fun) Selfish may be, insane may be, NOT DONE maybe, but I am elated!!! Just for the icing on the cake I suggest my husband accompanies them too!
Oh God Bless my Brother! And Cheers to 15 days of vacation being over!
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