I know that I’m extraordinarily lucky that my husband is a teacher and each school holidays I look forward to having him home and being a part of our everyday life. I feel like I’m counting down the weeks until the next half term or end of term when I get Lucas home for the full day and Daddy is around to help out. I feel like we can really be a team and having another adult to talk to in the day is a treat for me too! Of course it isn’t always as easy as I like to think and I’m so used to just doing my own things in the day that we do get under each others feet a little. Each holidays things have changed so much, our routine will be different, the twins are doing different things and Lucas is constantly wanting to be on the go. It takes us a few days to settle into each other’s space.
I’ve learnt from many a fraught school holidays not to expect too much. Lucas is always tired from finishing pre-school and my husband will often have work to do at home. Our days out can go either way, I’m sometimes so eager to get everyone out I don’t always think that maybe the boys need the time to just wind down at home. When they don’t go to plan I’ve learnt just let it go. We’ll come home and eat our packed lunch on the carpet and spend the day differently. We always seem to have so many appointments to squeeze into the week, haircuts, dentist and all the boys had to have injections (I had purposefully waited to have my husband with me for that one!) so our week was planned round them.
In the end we didn’t do a big day out like I had wanted; it was just going to be too difficult when it is still quite cold out. The boys get so miserable when they are cold so instead we stayed close to home. We spent a few afternoons at a park close to us that we just love (mostly because I can get cake) we caught up with cousins and Grandma and Grandad. My mum took Lucas to Shaun the Sheep for her usual Nanny date and we took him out on little errands so we could both spend some time with him. It’s fun spending time with the twins now when they are doing so much and Boo has started to take his first steps. It was great to have someone else around to keep an eye on them though, we really need eyes in the back of our head with this pair. We caught up with some of Lucas’ school friends for a playdate and had a game night in with in in laws. I also loved being able to see and good friends in the evening and my husband got a night out at the pub. Those little moments when you aren’t being a parent can really restore your sanity! At the end of the week I spent a fantastic evening with some lovely blogger friends; a real treat and there will be more on that another time.
So now here we are on Sunday and we’ve just spent the whole day in – a perfect lazy day to end the week and prepare ourselves for the return of the normal everyday routine. I don’t really get the Sunday feeling anymore because I’m a stay at home mum but I do at the end of the holidays. It’s a little bit of dread that the relaxed version of us is ending and some anxiety that I have to remember how look after our three everyday on my own! Still, I’m looking forward to our school walks again and the start of playgroups and swimming which they all love. I thought I’d share some photos of our week, nothing really special just lots and lots of precious family time.
6 Comments
I love this post. I can really feel your love of the holidays and it’s refreshing, on the last day of the holiday, to not hear you wishing the routine back as quickly as possible.
February 22, 2015 at 9:00 pmI envy you having your Husband at home so much – although I am sure during term time the days must drag hugely. I think having quality holiday time, to just spend at home or something, would make it easier for me to deal with Hubby’s shifts but unfortunately annual leave for him is few and far between x
Oh Hayley, I can totally relate to this post! We didn’t do too many hugely exciting things over the half term but man, waking up today knowing we needed to rush around and that I would be alone again to get all things done was something I was not looking forward to.
February 23, 2015 at 9:50 amIt definitely helped that Francis was looking forward to getting back to school and seeing his friends!
Hope you have a good first day back to ‘reality’:-)
xx
We always plan so much and then by the time our week off comes around we like nothing better than to take it easy and spend time together and eat food. It does look like you had a really lovely week together. Sometimes slowing down is just what we need isn’t it?
February 23, 2015 at 2:01 pmFamily time is the most important time- and my favourite times are the ones where it is quiet and relaxed- your half term sounds lovely and perfect. I love all the photos, including your new hair! How lovely to have your hubby off work for the school holidays, it must be such a treat! xx
February 23, 2015 at 9:16 pmI think it’s lovely and refreshing all round when you have your partner home right? one hand it can be an eye opener to both ad its lovely to spend quality time together x
February 23, 2015 at 9:37 pmLove your hair! After being a single parent I can’t even imagine having to share responsibilities and parenting with another person so I’m certain we’d be stepping over each other’s toes too haha
February 24, 2015 at 3:04 am