As the school gates close for summer, I notice the pressure hit. Suddenly, parents feel as though they have to spend six weeks creating magical childhood memories, keeping everyone entertained, limiting screen time, providing healthy meals, organising day trips, staying patient, keeping the house tidy and, somehow, continuing working too.
It is a lot – I feel it too! As a GP, and as a mum, I often hear parents talk about feeling exhausted before the holidays have even begun. Somehow the last few weeks towards the end feel even more intense than the year put together.
We tell ourselves this is the season to relax, yet many families find themselves carrying an entirely different kind of mental load – the summer load. The invisible planning, the emotional juggling and the constant feeling that we should be making every day count.
Social media presents beautifully curated family adventures, matching outfits, elaborate picnic spreads and smiling children who never seem to complain that they’re bored. It can leave many of us wondering whether we’re somehow falling short if our own summer involves supermarket meal deals, arguments over whose turn it is on the games console and the occasional frozen pizza for dinner.
