Ways to make the Summer Holidays Feel Easier

The six week summer holidays don’t have to feel overwhelming. In this episode, I’m sharing five simple, practical ways to make the weeks ahead feel calmer, more organised and far less stressful. Whether you’re juggling work, entertaining the children at home or simply trying to keep on top of everyday life, these easy tips will help you spend less time feeling frazzled and more time making memories. Grab a cuppa and let’s make this your calmest summer yet.

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Until next time, take care, enjoy your summer.

The Quiet Reset is created by The Secret Mum Club.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Professional organising company beyond understanding or real health. I'm that extra pair of hands you've always wished you had. And this podcast is here to help your life and calmer and more manageable. One on it compensation at a time. Welcome back to the quiet reset. You are here with Kerry Hart, and I'm your host, and I am going to be keeping you company today. I am doing this podcast all on my own, and I absolutely loved having a guest last week. How amazing was Emma, and how much did she just get you to think a little bit more of why you're holding on to things, and then what a massive transformation that you can make just by letting go. I think that's like a really important thing for us to remember. You know, you need to remember that you've bought these things, the money is gone, you're not gonna get them back, you're not gonna get that money back. You worked really hard for that possession, and a lot of people hang on to that, but the money is gone, and all it is doing is clogging up your energy and your thoughts of just oh my god, my house is in chaos. I need to get rid of all of these things, and I can't see the wood through the trees. And this is the first thing that you must do, you must just stop and think, do I love it? Does it serve a purpose anymore? Not am I gonna need it in 10 years? Because you could probably rebuy it at that time if you did need it, but get it out of your house, clear your mind, and yeah, you'll all start to feel better. If you didn't hear mine and Emma's um podcast last week, go and check it out, it was so good. So, as I said, I'm here all on my own today, and I want to talk to you about the six weeks holidays. If it's already got you feel a little bit overwhelmed, then I am here to make everything a little calmer for you. Whether you're working and you're juggling that, or you're at home and you're thinking, Wow, how am I gonna entertain them for six long weeks, then I have got some tips for you that are gonna make this so much easier. So, 10 long years ago, I became a mother, and I had my lovely, gorgeous little son who I adore obviously, um, and so in the beginning it was not really an issue. I was just trying to amuse the babies. I used to go to all of the Bayou Clubs, baby sensory, swimming, the church classes, and I would fully recommend the church classes, they are one of the best, and you know why? Because they give you tea and biscuits. Most places do not give you tea and biscuits, they also want to throw you out the second that your session is done because then they bring in more people. So, yeah, I'm all for the church classes, but no one used to talk to me. It used to be one of those clubs that it was just me and my little boy, and part of that was really nice, but week on week it did get to the point where I was a bit like I wouldn't mind a little chat with somebody, but everybody already had their groups, and I didn't feel like that I could intervene in them. So my journey started there, and then a couple of years later I had my lovely daughter Scarlett, and then all chaos hit, didn't it? Because then I was trying to juggle a teenager, teenager, a toddler, and a baby, and that's when things become a little bit tougher because I had a two and a bit year old and a newborn, and the newborn sleeps to a degree, but I was breastfeeding, so that's like relentless, isn't it? Loved it, but it is relentless, and it is really hard for those people that have tried and not been able to, or those people that are doing it, even for those that are bottle feeding, like when you've got a baby, it's hard, isn't it? Because you've got you've got that constant demand on you. But I had that times too, which I know some of you can absolutely relate to. So that's when things started to get a little bit tougher for me. But you know, I got through it, my son started to go to nursery a few days a week. I went back to work very, very short-lived, and then I was back with my babies again, which I was more than happy with, um, running my own sideline business, which I really loved, and I made it fit around the kids, and it was enough to keep me going like mentally and have my own thing, and I think that's a really that's a really like important thing in motherhood, isn't it? That everyone says the same thing, like I'm not using my brain anymore, and it was you know, it was really nice visiting my old work lot and whatever. But the reality is it's actually amazing to be at home, and it's amazing to spend so much time with your children, um, but when you're in the midst of it, you don't feel like that. I feel like that because I'm looking back, but you really have to embrace them a few years that you have at home with your children because they are short-lived when you look back. But I do think as well that you can go a little bit stir crazy if it's just the kids and you, and I was very lucky that I'd already started up something before I had Nathan, and I was running with that, so um, I already had a base of a business there. So, anyway, I um I had my own brain, which was amazing. I had something on the sideline, I was sending a little bit of money, and I was amusing my children, and I found it, I found it okay because I planned it well. I think I always I've always been a planner, you know. If I look back in COVID times, I used to spend my evenings, no word of a light, on Pinterest, printing stuff out, um, drawing stuff, making a plan for the next day, and I never minded if that plan didn't happen, but I always needed that backup, and so here is where we start the six weeks' holiday. So, when the kids started six weeks' holiday, you get used to your own time, don't you? Even if you're working from home, you can go and put some washing on, or you can go and have your lunch break in silence. But when you've got children here, your brain is like chaos, isn't it? So, I do think the best thing that you can do for the six weeks holiday is plan it well. So, here goes my top tips for the six weeks holiday. First things first, get your diary or calendar out or whatever you use and block it out in your diary. Children school holidays. So you remember when they're going when their first day off, if they're finishing early. Mine finish at three, I think. No, two, I think, so a little bit earlier than normal, and when they go back to school, do they have any inset days before? Some schools start on like a Thursday or something, which is really random. Um, so make sure you've got that down in the diary so we know exactly how many days you have. Next thing I want you to do is I want you to write down all of your work commitments, things that you cannot not do. For example, do you go into London every Tuesday or the office or deadlines that you have to you have to hit? Put them in your diary now. You don't forget, you know they're there, you can't miss them. That's a glass ball you cannot drop. I want you to put in any days that your husband or your partner or your friends are looking after your children, things that you've already pre-organised, put them in. Next one, clubs. Now we're starting to do the fillers. So, with those work commitments that you cannot get out of, have a look at clubs. Clubs are the best way to keep kids amused, and I find when they're younger, if they go to a club on like a Tuesday, for example, if you have to work from home on the Wednesday, but they have to be at home with you, they're quite happy just relaxing a little bit. You can get a little bit more time to work if you're juggling, working, and playing with them at the same time. But also don't just focus on the clubs that you get at school. I think a lot of new mums, new mums to the six weeks' holiday rather than new mums, very much focus on what clubs there are at the school, and there are so many clubs out there. Like, we have one at our um local leisure centre, and they do a swimming class every day for two weeks for half an hour, which you may think, oh, this is total ag. But my children are so good at swimming, and they have been so good at swimming because this is what I used to do with them when I didn't really know what we were gonna do every day and how we were gonna get them out of the house, but this gave them a kickstart that no one else had, so that's one thing that I did, but obviously, I had to take them there. Um, there's also climbing clubs, there's clubs at different schools. Um, I sent my son on a bike ability, which was amazing. That was two days, he was outside, he was doing all the fun things kids should do, and he learned how to cycle properly near traffic lights, roundabouts. It was amazing, one of the best things that I've ever done. So, not only did I get them out, I could work while they were amused at a club, but they actually learned something super useful that they really enjoyed. So, have a look at some other clubs, have a chat with other mums that have got older siblings, maybe, or even like the local Facebook mum groups have got some great ideas. So, if you type that in, that is also really good. Um, if you need your children um at a club for longer than three o'clock, which I know a lot of schools do, there are a lot of clubs out there that do further than that too. So, have a little look, do some research, but that is definitely definitely one to remember. And don't forget, children like downtime too. So, even if you manage to get them out first thing in the morning, this is what I always like to do. If we wake up in the morning or have a leisurely time getting ready, pack up a few snacks, possibly lunch, and get out for a couple of hours in the morning, even if it's just walk and the park in the afternoon makes my job easier. They're quite happy of playing, so that always helps me out. Right now, we actually have a vague plan of some bits that we are gonna do in the school holidays. We just need a little bit of a buffer. So, my tip number two is I have an iron board list, or what I did on my Thursday edit last week. If you're following me on Instagram or Facebook, I suggested making something called an adventure jar. Now we have just started ours and we've just started putting things in there. So I've just got a normal jar, and I've got the children anything they think of fun that we could do, write it down on a bit of paper, put it in the jar. So later on down the line, if we wake up and think, Oh, I don't know what to do today, put our hand in the jar and pick it out. Now I had a great recommendation on the last Thursday edit that I did, which was you can Google it actually, it's something like things to do before I'm 11 and three-quarters, and it has got some absolutely amazing ideas. We're not talking let's go to Harry Potter World and a theme park, we're talking outdoorsy things, some things are free, some things are minimal cost because obviously, you know, six weeks is a really long time to have your children off, and so we can't keep splashing the cash all the time. We have to find some things that are gonna cost money, the adventure days, and then some of the things that were just like buffers. So, just a quick few ideas of things that I put in there. Let's have a yesterday. Kids love yesterdays. If you haven't seen the film, get the film. It's called Yesterday, it's brilliant for children, ages from five upwards, and my kids absolutely love it. So, yesterday is one of the things: cinema, beach, stargazing, bike ride, library visit, water balloon fight, um, making cupcakes, baking cookies, a garden picnic, um going on an adventure on our bikes. There are endless amounts of things, but when you are in the midst of the six weeks holiday, the pressure on you to think of these things can sometimes be a little bit overwhelming. So, I would highly recommend an on-aboard list or an adventure list. Tip number three: create a grab and go summer station. Now, I actually have two. I have one in my car because some of the things I can't keep in my car because of heat reasons, and then I have a bag inside. Now, there are many things that I keep in here, and these are the essential things for we're going out today. I'm gonna grab a bag, and within that bag, I put things like sun cream, hats, sunglasses, a picnic blanket, bug spray, anti-histamine, wet wipes, some change. Um, if you go on to my Instagram or my website, you will see the full list of things that I recommend you put in your grab and go summer station. And if you have that by the door, you are gonna save yourself 10 minutes and the stress trying to find these things when you're just trying to get out the door and you have one or multiple children trying to speak to you at the same time. Tip number three, and this is about food. Keep meals really simple. My first tip would be get a click and click, get a click and collect, or get it delivered to your door at 8 a.m. every week for six weeks, even if you've never done it before, have the food there. You can sit on a Sunday night when the kids are in sleep, add everything onto your list. It'll be the Monday morning before you start work, before they're at the clubs, get it all packed away, and then you're done for the week. But make a plan. Now, on a Sunday, I usually sit down and I have I have done this ever since I did Six Pack Revolution years ago. I will sit down and I will make a plan of what we're gonna eat all week. Now, mainly excuse me, mainly for dinners rather than lunches because lunches, I don't know about your children, but my children just rotate the same sandwich. Um in fact they might have a choice of two, but yeah, they don't they don't really go off of that. So it's mainly the dinners. Now I do this on a Sunday, add it to my shopping list, it's all here in the covers. Don't need to think about it. I definitely don't need to pop to Tesco's ten times in one week because I know we have all been there before, and it's done, but also keep the meals really simple. If you're going out to a theme park and you've had a McDonald's or a pizza or something, have sandwiches for dinner. Who wants to get in and then cook another hot meal? Keep it simple. No one is that bothered as long as they've got food, it's vaguely healthy, it's fine. Think things like sharing platters or picnic teas, they will find this so fun. If you want to cook something hot, get a chicken, put it in put it in the oven for an hour, don't even need to touch it, get some pitta, make yourself a small salad, cut up some fruit for dessert, put some ice creams in the freezer, some Greek yogurt, and you are done. Let's not get to that point that we all get to as mums, where we all just want to be in an all-inclusive hotel and someone else do the cooking because we're like three meals a day plus 15 snacks a day are enough to drive anybody mental. So that's my top tip for keeping meals simple. And this is my last tip lower the bar. Not every day has to be magical. Some of the best summer memories are things like playing in the garden, eating dinner outside, uh, watching a film together, going for an evening walk. My sister has looked after my children maybe 15 times, and you she has done some amazing things to them. And the thing that they remember the most is when she locked herself out of our house, had to break off a branch from the tree and go through the letterbox, hook the key that she could see in the distance, and then bring it back through. She did it by the way, it's quite impressive. Um, and we had a lockbox outside, so she could have just got the key out, but um we didn't answer the phone because we were at the races. But anyway, cut a long story short, she did it. But that is their favourite memory. I say it all the time because I thought it was really amusing. So we don't always need to put ourselves under so much pressure that it makes us stressed and it makes us grouchy and it's frustrated, and that's not nice for the kids. The more relaxed you are, the more relaxed they will be. And so keep it super simple. So if you just take one thing from today, let it be this the best summer holidays aren't always perfectly planned, they're just simply organized enough that everyone can relax. A little bit of preparation now really does give you more time to enjoy the moments that matter later. So, anyway, thank you for listening, and I will see you in the next episode. Bye.