Generally speaking, mums can be broadly categorised into 2 mainstream groups: The Planner, or the Improviser. One will recognise the Planner Mum from the little black organiser she carries with her - rain or shine. If she is a technologically advanced Planner Mum, then it is the Blueberry or one of the many types of Pocket PCs, that is seen to be her truly faithful companion. The Planner Mum organises her children’s week sometimes to the very minute - recording, analysing, and then recording again. On the opposing end, you will find the Improviser Mum. The Improviser Mum is happy to leave her child to devise their own unique way of occupying time. She firmly believes that the natural power of creativity in all children will provide for its own kind of time-filling adventures.

Please note that this post is not about debating the benefits and disadvantages of Planner Mum vs. Improviser Mum. I’ll leave that discussion for a later time (hopefully, once I get the opportunity to gain more insight from other mums on the topic). This post is about planning for the school holidays, from the perspective of a Planner Mum.

The school holidays span from Christmas to the end of January, during the hot and dry Australian summer. Although 6 weeks does not sound too drawn-out, the blistering summer days in combination with restless young bodies and minds, can sap the energy levels of all, even the fittest mum to the point of depletion. Thus the reason as to why a good summer holiday plan, especially if you have primary school going kids, is deemed a necessity.

Here are my suggestions for getting the ball rolling in this direction. Remember, it is never too late to start planning. The whole process may take some effort and time, but from my previous experiences in this situation, I can assure you that the benefits that you will gain is unquestionable.

1. Print out a large Day-to-Day boxed calender for the period of the holidays. If you have Visio, this can be easily done. Otherwise, just draw them up on a large piece of paper. {We will come back to this calender in point # 7}

2. On a separate piece of paper, brainstorm (either alone or with family members, or with other mums) on activities that your children will be interested in. Make sure to include both indoor and outdoor activities. Some examples are swimming at the local pool, local library, parks, baking cookies, writing postcards, movies, going to the museum, play time with friends, etc, etc. Spend some time doing this exercise. Many a times you will find that one thought leads to another. Write them down. Include everything. Do not try to analyse your thoughts at this stage. {Points number 3 to 6 are also relevant for this brainstorming activity}.

3. To make the brainstorming activity more useful, use other resources as well during this process. This may include your local newspaper or useful websites which very often have ideas on holiday activities. Do not forget about holiday activities planned around your local shopping centres and libraries. Take note of the days and time that these activities are on.

4. I also usually go to the library a few weeks before the holidays and borrow books on children craft and cooking. Flip through the pages and note all the interesting activities that you can do with your children. Make a special note of all the ingredients and craft materials that you will need, and purchase them in advance if you can.

5. If your children enjoy watching movies, browse through the website of your local cinema and found out what will be showing during the holiday period. Often you will find that there will be a few age appropriate movies that will be showing at this time. Note them down.

6. Make a list of movies that your kids would like to watch on DVD. (This will save a lot of time browsing through video store aisles wondering what to borrow). It also gives you the option to call up the store and make a booking on the relevant DVD titles in advance.

7. Once your brainstorming is complete, the fun part begins. Bring out the boxed calender. First fill in all the confirmed engagements that you currently have (such as, so and so’s birthday party). Once you’ve done this, all the empty boxes will indicate the “FREE” days. This is when you start filling up the boxes with the various activities from your brainstorming sheet.

8. For a more advanced process, you can divide each day into 3 on the calender - for morning, afternoon and evening, and fill in accordingly. I also usually have a weekly budget that I try to stick to. For example, it would be going overboard if I took the kids to the cinema twice in one week!

I hope mums out there will find this useful. If you do give this process a go, I would love to hear from you as to your experience with it. I would also appreciate any other tips, comments and feedback. Happy Holidays everyone!!

Article Author: Sumitra Rudra

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