How important our mothers are during the endless school holidays

BarcelonaMy eye is twitching, and it's only July. And I don't want to complain too much because I'm incredibly lucky to be a teacher and can balance my four children's vacations well. Three months, four teenagers, four meals a day. They eat a lot, and the issue is no longer making lunch, it's planning it and making it substantial and satisfying. Just think, if I have to start coating chicken breasts with breadcrumbs, I should have started in April.

I know the theory says that during vacation we should share tasks and set schedules. The practice always translates into responses like, "It's the other guy's turn, I always do everything, I already had to do that yesterday, this isn't mine, or ask so-and-so who didn't do anything today." Yes, they do end up doing it, but never the first time and never on their own initiative. You know that hackneyed saying, "If I read, they read?" We don't have that mirror effect in my house. Not in reading, nor in housework. I hope I'm not alone in this fight, which for me, during the holidays, is the priority. I don't want you to just help; I want you to get involved.

Maybe I want too many things. Like them getting up at decent hours or doing their summer homework. You know, the thing is going to be a vacation notebook that starts to fill up with all the motivation in the world, and after three or four pages, it's just there. Forgotten and withered. It used to happen to you too, and you know it. That's why, now that I'm older and the children are older, I've become more permissive and I try to let them do things at their own pace without losing so much patience. I try to close the school issue so it doesn't become a source of reproach or punishment. There's no need to rehash everything that's happened during the school year; I think it's important emotionally to step back, and come Holy September, we'll return to it.

I've assumed they'll wake up late many days, and I try to convince myself that science says it's not laziness, but that the adolescent brain needs more hours of sleep to mature. So let them mature, and fast. I've realized that in the summer it's necessary to relax the rules, so they can prioritize friends, slow down, and not rush to get everything done. It's time to take a vacation, not just from work, but also from the mental load. As my children say: "Mom, we're here." chill".

Essential aids: recreation and the grandparents' village

I won't hide from you that I've always had two essential supports that have made my summer easier: recreation and my grandparents' village. I always try to highlight the work of the esplais, but I always fall short. They deserve the St. George's Cross or even the Nobel Peace Prize. They even hold galas to award content creators! And the monkeysWeeks of sleeping in bunk beds, in the heat, boiling macaroni, screen-free time, and taking on a lot of responsibility. And all of this without pay. It's entirely voluntary work to help us educate our children in something that will mark them forever: free time. Knowing how to have fun, build community, socialize with all kinds of people, miss each other in just the right amount, and grow smart. It's the most important learning experience of their lives, and I can never be grateful enough for the work of the esplais.

Grandparents also deserve a separate chapter. Let me tell you, grandmothers. Grandmothers who wear a bathrobe with straps, who go out shopping, who cook delicious meals despite the heat, and who send us photos of their children in their underwear, smiling, with watermelon juice dripping down their bellies. How important our mothers are and how they go out of their way to ensure we work, write, travel, and manage to balance work with the endless school holidays.

Because I'm warning you that after the summer camp, the visit to the village, and the days at the beach with us, there's still that week in September when we give up on everything and the children openly lounge on the sofa. For four days, it's best not to get the Gremlins too wet. Referee, it's time. But whatever you do on these holidays, enjoy them a lot, because after all, everything flies by. And I'm not just talking about summer. See you again in September!