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Adele Hamilton, Editor Parent24
Children love school holidays in theory.
The prospect of weeks of unstructured lolling-around time beckons with a sense of freedom that the school week can never offer.
In reality, though, the loss of their routine doesn't make them as happy as they think it will.
On Monday they'll be bubbling over: 'Mom, I spent four hours watching TV and two hours playing X-Box and one hour whining at dad to buy me KFC for lunch.'
At lunchtime on Tuesday, they'll be asking to get a DVD.
By Wednesday, they'll be begging to be taken to the movies.
On Thursday, everyone will mill about without a purpose, lost without the usual punctuation of the afternoon soccer match.
And by Friday they will wistfully ask how much longer it is until they go back to school.
Children thrive on routine, a theory supported by the results of our Parent24 survey, which showed that children with routines are generally considered happier - and so are their parents.
Or is this just at my house? Do your children really enjoy having loads of free time on their hands? And what on earth do they do with it? Send me some good ideas and you could win a R200 voucher from kalahari.net.
The prospect of weeks of unstructured lolling-around time beckons with a sense of freedom that the school week can never offer.
In reality, though, the loss of their routine doesn't make them as happy as they think it will.
On Monday they'll be bubbling over: 'Mom, I spent four hours watching TV and two hours playing X-Box and one hour whining at dad to buy me KFC for lunch.'
At lunchtime on Tuesday, they'll be asking to get a DVD.
By Wednesday, they'll be begging to be taken to the movies.
On Thursday, everyone will mill about without a purpose, lost without the usual punctuation of the afternoon soccer match.
And by Friday they will wistfully ask how much longer it is until they go back to school.
Children thrive on routine, a theory supported by the results of our Parent24 survey, which showed that children with routines are generally considered happier - and so are their parents.
Or is this just at my house? Do your children really enjoy having loads of free time on their hands? And what on earth do they do with it? Send me some good ideas and you could win a R200 voucher from kalahari.net.
