Author: Karli Florisson
Published: January 03, 2019
Summer holidays are times of fun, excitement and adventure. With a bit of planning, it’s quite easy to get the most out of the warm weather and limitless free time.
Ah, but what’s that I hear you say? You have children? There’s no real difference between summer holidays with kids and without the darling little angels. It’s just a matter of being organised! In order to help you maximise your time, I’ve prepared a handy little planner for your day. Never fear, I’ve even added a few extra pointers for those with kids, just to show you how easy it can be!
Get up feeling rested after a luxurious little sleep in. Have a nutritious breakfast – perhaps some fresh fruit with Greek yoghurt, drizzled with a little honey and toasted almonds. On a morning like this, it would be a crime not to go to the beach. After a leisurely swim, you can relax on your towel, soaking up the sun.
It’s lunchtime. What do you feel like? The possibilities are endless. You could whip up a fresh salad, or make avocado on toast, or head down to your favourite café for a bite to eat. So many options!
After a little afternoon siesta, you consider a spot of yoga. Perhaps an afternoon stroll? A little shopping, maybe even lounging with a good book. Ah, holidays are so relaxing.
Make reservations at a swanky restaurant, and invite a few friends for a lovely meal, a cocktail or two, and a view of the moonlit bay. Delightful! Aren’t holidays great?
Get up at the crack of dawn and break up a fight over the TV remote. Go back to bed. Get up 5 minutes later and break up another fight. Go back to bed and put your pillow over your head to drown out the noise. Swear you’re going to get block-out blinds for the kids’ rooms.
Try to have a nutritious breakfast. There are only a few bruised bananas and a sad looking apple left in the fruit bowl, despite the fact that you went shopping yesterday. At least there’s still yoghurt. The kids won’t eat that plain stuff, so strawberry yoghurt it is. Twenty minutes later, they’re hungry again. Fill them up with toast. That’s nutritious enough, isn’t it?
It’s a lovely day to go to the beach! Pack towels, sunscreen, hats, snorkels, boogie boards, snacks, water bottles, floaties, buckets and shovels, spare clothes, and a beach shelter. Try to squeeze it all into the car. Help the kids find their bathers. Help them find their thongs. Break up a fight over who gets the front seat. Consider just staying home. Finally get everyone into the car, then get back out again because little Susie needs to go to the toilet. Halfway to the beach, realise that one of the kids has snuck the cat into the car, and it is now mewing to get out. Head back, let the cat out, and take little Tommy to the toilet. Finally, what seems like hours later, get to the beach. It takes what is certainly another hour to coat the children in sunscreen, then they race into the waves. Their excited laughter makes all the preparation worthwhile.
Lunchtime. You’re exhausted and sandy. Spaghetti on toast it is.
Afternoon. Because you’re so organised, you’ve planned a play date with some of the kids’ friends. They’ve come down with gastro or some other contagious disease, and so they cancel at the last minute. The kids are devastated, so you do a quick ring around and find another unorganised family that’s stoked to come over for a play. The kids have an absolute blast. The house looks like a herd of rampaging rhinos have held a rave in every room. The fridge looks like it has been raided by giant grasshoppers. But no one is complaining about being bored or hungry, so you’re counting it as a win.
Dinner time. Already? You’re exhausted and there’s no food left in the fridge. Takeaway? Sounds like a wonderful plan. What wine pairs best with fish and chips?
There is time for a quick round of backyard cricket before the sun is finally down, and the kids collapse, sun-kissed and happy, into their beds. Everyone must be tired, as they skip the usual nightly routine of calling out for endless drinks of water, extra goodnight kisses, and trips to the toilet. Now you finally have time to clean the house, do a load of washing, sweep up the endless beach sand that seems to be covering every surface, and make a shopping list for tomorrow. Just for once, give the cleaning a miss. Instead, have a cuppa on the back verandah with your beloved, enjoying the serenity. After all, you’re on holidays. Isn’t it relaxing?
Cover pic: @thebeachpeople
