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I enjoy the long bank holidays of Christmas and Easter time – it’s always a time for us to spend time together, the five of us, without the pressure of work to go to for Damian or feeling like I need to be doing everything for the children in the day.
It’s hard to feel like you’re making the most of the time together sometimes, and in the social media age, it can sometimes feel like everyone else is having a blast of a time, doing loads of things and living the perfect life. It can often feel a bit like you’re missing out!
I’ve pulled together my top tips for making the most of family time; however, that might appear for you.
Be Realistic
This is a big one – there’s no point planning five things to do if it’s just not possible to do all those things. Yes, long weekends are great but equally, it’s also a time to rest and relax. Choose one or two things that you’d really like to do and something that all the family would enjoy. If there are plans or expectations to see wider family then why not try to do something different? If you really want to go for a walk arrange to meet family there for a picnic.
Embrace the downtime
It’s OK to take a lazy day and have an at-home day! Kids enjoy nothing more sometimes than a really lazy day where you watch films and play games all day. I love days like this where we can just be at home, playing games or experimenting with making cakes and biscuits – this year we tried making our own chocolates using chocolate moulds. Lots of fun was had by us all – plus they were delicious!
We also really enjoying playing games. We each choose a favourite game and take it in turns to play them. We have lots of fun playing games, and it’s a great rainy day activity too. We like a whole range of games and we have a few shorter games that help to keep the interest of H in between playing the longer games.
Don’t worry about the housework
I’ve taken a complete break this holiday period from any housework, aside from a quick tidy around and the washing up. I made sure that the mopping and cleaning were done pre-Christmas time so that I didn’t feel like we had to do anything over the break.
Even things like the laundry haven’t been touched! If that’s the sort of thing that sends you into a panic then there are some fantastic laundry services that you can use to take the stress away. Think of it as the Uber of dry cleaning. You simply choose a pick-up time for your items, the service you require and you’re away. I love the idea of this for the Christmas period. Not having put the washing machine on for a few days we have a fair old backlog of washing to do (and the inevitable sorting and ironing). Using a service like LaundryHeap takes some of those housework jobs out of the equation for you, meaning you can focus more on the family time.
If getting out is a must…
And if you’re really keen to fill the days off with days out then it’s well worth booking ahead; if you know that you have a period of time off work then keep an eye out for early bird deals for theatre tickets or other events. Things can often get booked up over bank holiday periods so it pays to book ahead, and of course, doing so helps to spread the cost too.
