The Sunday Mail
FIVE chatty boarding school learners pulling sooty and torn wheeled duffle bags entered a fast-food outlet and spent longer than usual staring at the price list.
One needed no special eyes to see that the youngsters were juggling between proceeding home without buying anything and/ or settling on a meal that would leave them with at least enough bus fare for the trip home.
In the midst of all this, a magnanimous patron intervened and bought the children expensive takeaways, giving them a reason to smile.
For learners, no time is as exciting as a school holiday.
It gives them time for a breather to recharge their batteries for the next school term.
“I just need to get home and relax. The school schedule was so unforgiving that I barely rested,” one of the learners could be heard saying as he made his way home.
“I did not do well this term, so I will use the holiday to study hard. I shall also use part of the holiday to meet new friends,” his friend said.
Now that schools have closed, parents and guardians will be working extra hard to put food on the table and raise fees for the next term.
They, however, also need to watch over their children like hawks to ensure they do not fall into the trap of drug and alcohol abuse.
Idle time often leads to mischief like what happened during the prolonged lockdown period, which left scores of young girls pregnant.
School holidays can be a difficult time for parents, especially working parents.
Balancing work with caring for children is hard and often expensive.
Even if you are home, keeping children entertained can be tough, especially in autumn and winter when the weather is bad and going out is more of a challenge.
According to experts, if the parents and guardians get it right, the holidays can be a lovely time for everyone.
Here are some tips for surviving, and even enjoying, the school holidays:
Involve other people
Your friends, particularly those with children or the parents of your children’s friends, will also be trying to find ways to entertain their children during the school holidays.
Using each other as entertainment is mutually beneficial, so you do not need to feel bad about it.
Doing things together will provide ready-made entertainment for the children and adult conversation for you.
Use community resources
Community resources such as churches and libraries often have craft activity sessions or days during school holidays and, better still, they are likely to be inexpensive. You can make use of noticeboards at local community centres, libraries and churches, or ask other parents for ideas.
Libraries are also good places to spend time because they are a source of free books. You can sit there and read to your children if you like, or they can read books to decide if they like them.
Look out for sports and other ‘camps’
Schools and sports centres are well aware that parents work and that children need entertaining. Most schools will run some kind of holiday clubs, many of which are open to the wider community and not just to children at the school. Some run very specific sports clubs or coaching sessions, which can be good if your child is into sports.
Use the rest of the family
School holidays are a good time to draw on family resources. Look at it as giving your children a chance to spend time with cousins, grandparents or other relatives. You may be able to do this on a day or overnight basis, depending on distances and also your children’s ages. Alternatively, consider a “child share” with other family members, where you take their children for a few days and they then reciprocate.
Use free and subsidised resources
Many museums, particularly in bigger cities, are free or heavily subsidised, making them cheap options for entertainment. It also makes them busy, so if you can plan your visit for days at either end of the holidays when other people are at school, this may be better. Furthermore, it gives everyone, including you, something to look forward to, especially if you have any period of time without much planned.
Let’s ensure the holidays are fun-filled and keep an eye on our precious children.
Inotambika mughetto.
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