5 Reasons Summer Is the Best and Worst Time of Year for Parents

During the summer holidays, every mom has plenty of reasons to be happy, but also plenty to worry about. The constant noise, mess, and the need to come up with activities to keep the kids busy during the summer vacation become the main irritants for every mom from the first day of summer until the moment when parents are relieved to send their kids back to school.

Ask any parents how they feel about summer, and they’ll likely say it evokes mixed feelings. On the one hand, there are amazing moments captured on camera that bring back pleasant memories. But on the other hand, those same moments can also trigger unpleasant associations with a time when you were ready to pull your hair out in frustration. Imagine for a moment that you could write a story about the summer holidays if we asked you to do so.

The summer holidays are approaching. As the holidays draw near, you’re happy that school is ending, but you’re also a bit apprehensive. You’re ready to plead with the class teacher, «Our children are under your care for six hours a day, five days a week. Please, dear, don’t abandon us!»

The last day of school arrives. You’re driving home in the car. The kids have big smiles on their faces, and you smile along with them in anticipation of the three summer months you’ll spend together as a family. But then you break out in a cold sweat: «Oh my God, three whole months!»

That’s the bittersweet truth. This time of year can be both wonderful and frustrating. Why, you ask? Here are just a few reasons:

1. Kids at HomePros: Your kids are at home. You can craft together, go on trips, or just watch silly cartoons. Sometimes, to get them outside, you let them play with the sprinkler. During the summer, your kids are under your constant supervision, so you’re sure they’re eating healthy food and going to bed on time. You’ll have the chance to do things you’ve been planning for a while but haven’t had time for, like gardening or reading a bestseller. Plus, you’ll constantly feel a close connection with your kids. Believe me, nothing brings you closer to them than the 78th viewing of «Madagascar» on a hot summer day, sitting in your pajamas under the air conditioner.Cons: In the summer, kids spend more time at home. If you work outside the home, you’ll need to find someone to watch them in your absence, or try sending them to a summer camp that, hopefully, won’t cost as much as your mortgage. If you work from home, be prepared for constant interruptions. The kids will howl when you start singing in the shower, and then casually mention it to their friends. They’ll shove each other, jump on the couch, constantly ask for food, and sometimes do something incredibly silly and dangerous, like starting a fire on the terrace.
2. Summer TreatsPros: In the summer, kids can enjoy all sorts of treats, from melon and strawberries to bright-colored popsicles. And homemade ice cream is simply unbeatable!Cons: During the summer holidays, you’ll often have to give them these sticky, sweet, dripping, and melting treats they keep asking for. As a result, they consume more sugar than they should, and their clothes are inevitably adorned with colorful stains. Try substituting sweets with tasty and healthy fruits like slices of melon or watermelon. It’s better than going bankrupt buying all those treats. This doesn’t apply to homemade ice cream, though!
3. Beach FunPros: Sun! Sand! Waves! A summer vacation isn’t complete without a trip to the beach. The kids build huge sandcastles while you relax under a beach umbrella, sipping a delicious cocktail from a glass with its own tiny umbrella. There’s an abundance of surfboards and boogie boards. After all the activity, the kids are exhausted, which means they’ll sleep soundly and for a long time.Cons: The sun is scorching. You constantly jump up to reapply sunscreen on everyone. Sand gets everywhere. The waves knock the kids over, leading to tears. Older siblings destroy the younger ones’ sandcastles, causing more crying. You nervously try to calm everyone down from under your umbrella, while sand gets on your cocktail umbrella, but you still finish your now-warm drink. There are too many surfboards, and you have to haul them all to and from the beach. The kids are already worn out, which means even more squabbles and whining.
4. Pool TimePros: It could be a public pool, a relative’s pool, or your own—it doesn’t matter. The main thing is the joy and relief you feel when you’ve brought the kids there with all the gear and can now relax for a couple of hours while they splash around in the water. You might even get to read an interesting book. Plus, in your swimsuit, sunglasses, and branded baseball cap, you look like a hot young mom.Cons: It turns out you dragged yourself there with masks, floaties, and a pile of silly pool toys only for your kids to play diving for coins they took from your wallet. The kids start splashing each other—a typical water fight—and of course, most of the splashes hit you. You can’t read your book peacefully because you’re afraid they might drown. In your swimsuit, you look like a pale vampire; your sunglasses are too big; and you think you look ridiculous in your baseball cap.
5. Unstructured TimePros: The days go by, and the summer holidays come to an end. It still seems like they’re bored, so you constantly come up with activities to keep the kids busy at home or at the dacha. They probably won’t be entertained by what you did during your childhood in the tough times of the ’90s. But you still hope that their spontaneous summer games won’t resemble adventures from the movie «Stand by Me,» based on Stephen King’s novella about the disappearance of teenage friends.Cons: Kids need structure. They hide under the furniture or jump on it, sighing heavily and complaining that they have nothing to do. For all the suggestions you make, based on your childhood experience, they respond in unison, «That’s boring!» until you leave the room and head to where they aren’t. If someone were to make a movie about kids’ unstructured summer fun, it might be called: «Minecraft and Fortnite*: In My Head, All My School Knowledge Is Gradually Being Replaced by This Junk.»