Sorting the school holidays

Make it easy for yourself: 

• Grab 5 things and go! (thinking: water, snacks, car keys, shoes, jackets)
• Have a box of non-perishable snacks already in the car (eg, muesli bars, raisins, crackers)
• Have a box in the car-boot filled with spare hats, sunscreen, blankets & jackets
• Leave spare change in the glovebox (for parking, ice-creams)
• Try and plan your activities the night before. Have clear in your mind what you want to do, and what you might need to pack for the day.
• Share your ideas with your kids, and get them on board before they go to bed
• Be prepared to be flexible with your ideas - include theirs so that everyone feels like they have had a say. With your day already planned in your head, you can wake up ready to go. 
• If you have an early start, have them lie out their clothes the night before, prep the lunchboxes and put any spare clothes and jackets into the car
• Ask the kids to help with packing the bags (sunscreen, water bottles, extra clothes). 
• Rally the troops to put their shoes on 15 minutes before you actually want to leave - this gives you all time to find the lost shoe, wash the face, last-minute loo, brush the hair etc. 
• Hit the road and have fun!

A good day out that ticks everyone's boxes!

Sometimes a slower pace is just what's needed after an action-packed school term, and full-on Christmas period.

Or perhaps it's an opportunity for you to have some family time to go on that trip you've been talking about?

Either way, using a calendar to help plan out activities for each day can take away stress, help manage your budget, give everyone something to look forward to.

A bit of planning means you also avoid jamming everything into the last few days of the holidays, after hearing a week of hearing "I'm boooored".

Check out our "What to Do?" template, print it off (or copy / create your own), complete together and stick it on the fridge.

• Sit down and write a list of things everyone wants to do in the holidays
• Ensure it's a good mix of wallet free, cheap as chips, and splashing out activities. To get you started, check out our page of Adventures where we've listed a mixture of "Chillin' at Home","Out and About", "Rainy Day" and many more activities. There's even stuff in there to do with your teen.
• For older kids, perhaps allocate a weekly spend, and ask them to figure out activities you do within that budget.
• Mark out "Chilling at Home" days and alternate these with "Out and about" days. Add in activities to suit.
• Once done, put your calendar on the fridge, or somewhere where everyone can see it.
• Check in with everyone in the evenings and chat about your plans for the next day - it might be that the weather forecast affects what you had planned to do, so chat about having a backup plan.
• To take the stress out of the next day: get everyone to get their clothes out, think about lunchboxes, pack the car with extra clothes, snacks, jackets, and fill up water bottles.

Sorted! 

Contact other Mums or Dads and make a friends' "Date Calendar".

Put your heads together and create a plan. For example, if there were five parents in the mix, arrange to take turns having the entire group of kids at your place.

This could be one day each week, or on a set day each month. This gives each parent a day off during the week (or month) to get things done without the extra stress of wondering what the kids will be doing.

Leave it to each parent to create an afternoon of activities. Sometimes just being at another friend's house is all they need to fight the so-called "boredom".  Check out some of our Adventures to give you some inspiration! 

If there's time, arrange to arrive 30-mins before the end of the "play-date", and enjoy a cuppa and catch up together. 

And remember, the time you have to yourself doesn't have to be dedicated to doing chores or catching up on housework - why not take some time just for you? Check out the ideas in our Looking After You Too section for inspiration.