I dread the six-week summer holiday – it’s hard and boring, but people moan when I admit it, says Cara Delahoyde-Massey
THE sun is shining and parents are lined up at the school gates ready to take their little ones home for six weeks.
But how many of those mums and dads are actually going to enjoy 42 long days of arts and crafts, bickering with siblings and handing out snacks every five minutes?
According to mum-of-two and Love Island winner Cara Delahoyde-Massey, not many.
The 34-year-old has gotten candid about how school holidays are hard for parents and boring for kids – and she wishes more mums would be honest about it.
She made the confession that she doesn’t look forward to the six week summer break from school on her podcast, The School Runway.
Cara won the second series of ITV’s Love Island in 2015, alongside her now-husband Nathan Massey, 32.
The pair now share two children together: six-year-old Freddie and three-year-old Delilah, who they affectionately call Pinky.
“It’s six weeks and we all dread it,” she said.
“But we’re not allowed to say that we dread it because we ‘should enjoy the time with our children’.”
Cara hit back at mum-shamers that say she should be “grateful” to have that time with her children and anticipated that “someone’s gonna moan” about her opinion.
“Let’s face the reality: half-term and school holidays are hard,” she continued.
“They’re hard for the kids, they’re boring for the kids, they’re hard for us… they’re boring!”
She empathised that it was easier for older generations during the school holidays as “we had more freedom”.
“When we were younger, you were able to go to more places on your own,” she said.
“I couldn’t let my kids do that now – could you imagine?!
Cara also slammed mums who claim that school holidays are a breeze.
Tips for keeping organised during the summer holidays
IF you aren't sure how to keep organised during the summer holidays, then you've come to the right place.
Senior Fabulous Writer, Sarah Bull, has shared her top tips…
FOOD: One thing I find difficult is keeping on top of my kids’ constant requests for snacks.
Despite the fact they have one breaktime at school and then lunch, their demands for food during school holidays seem to be 24/7.
To make things easier, I’ve decided to bring in snack baskets for them.
They each have a certain amount of food (the same so that there’s no arguments) and once it’s gone, it’s gone.
Not only does it make my life easier, it teaches them that they have to spread things out – and to maybe see if the ‘hunger signals’ are actually ones of hunger or thirst.
ACTIVITIES: It can be hard to keep your kids entertained – and six weeks can feel like an awfully long time.
One thing to take advantage of is having an outside space. If you have a garden, you can put bikes or scooters in there, or even a trampoline.
It keeps them entertained and also makes sure they’re doing some kind of physical activity every day.
If you don’t have the space for a climbing frame or added activities, why not give the kids a bucket of chalk and get them to draw on the paving slabs?
Or another one I did was to give the kids a ‘magic solution’ I needed painted on the wall (it was just water and washing up liquid) to protect it. They spent a good hour doing that!
CLOTHES: One thing I’ve used from when my daughter, now 6, started school is to use clothing drawers for her and my son, who’s 10.
On a Sunday, I put all of their clothes, underwear, socks etc in the corresponding drawer for the week.
Usually it’s uniform, but I still use the drawers during the holiday too.
It just makes things easier, more organised and less stressful – for all of us.
“All you hear is people saying, ‘oh my God, it’s so exciting, I’m going to do lots of arts and crafts, and I’m gonna do this, and gonna do that’,” she said.
“No normal mum is doing that, I’m sorry.
“We’re just struggling day-to-day.”
This isn’t the first time Cara has been candid about her dislike for school holidays.
Back in May, she took to social media to share her despair for repeatedly hearing her little ones shout “mummy” when they’re at home all day.
Hundreds of fellow parents flocked to the comments to share their relatable sentiments.
One even joked that Cara forgot to mention kids saying “I’m hungry” after shouting to get their mum’s attention.