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Ah! The Summer holidays!They start tomorrow.
I'll repeat that for those of you in England (or probably elsewhere) who may be reeling in disbelief. Yup, the Summer holidays, in this particular corner of Scotland, start at 3.15 tomorrow afternoon and don't end until Tuesday 21 August.
And, despite the fact that the weather is being accommodatingly very Summer-holiday-ish (although not swimsuits-outside-worthy quite yet), I am reminded of Nineteen Eighty-four.
No, not because that was (although it was, I'm sure) a particularly fine Summer holiday (we probably went to Frinton), nor because Summer holidays are my personal room 101 (far from it), but because of doublethink.
I find myself, as I contemplate the next six weeks, simultaneously thinking both:
Oh, hooray! The Summer holidays! Less than 24 hours to go! No alarm, no routine, no uniform, no dragging tired children out of bed or forcing them to do homework in a snatched hurry between bites of breakfast. Long lazy days of doing nothing and enjoying it. Hooray for the Summer holidays!
and
Oh help! That makes it 53 days. Or 1,272 hours. Or 76,320 minutes before I get five seconds of peace.
Can't wait.
I have that! I have exactly that! A mix of hooray and oh shit.
ReplyDeleteps - am watching Joanna Lumley's programme about the Nile and it made me think of you x
Me and Joanna.... now there's an association I'm quite happy with!
DeleteIf I could also remind you of a young Elizabeth Taylor with the intellectual capacities of Einstein's slightly less clever sister, that'd be good too...
21 August... Day I hand my masters dissertation in. Don't know if 53 days makes me feel better or worse! x
ReplyDeleteSee? It's the doublethink again!
DeleteGood luck! And think how much fun it'll be o the other side...
I'm always going to get lots of my own stuff done during the holidays, because life if more relaxed... Then I'm always going to get lots of my own stuff done when they're back at school, because they're out of the house...
ReplyDeleteAh, now I'm more realistic. I have absolutely no intention of doing any of my own stuff at all. Possibly ever.
DeleteI see your tomorrow and I raise you last Friday. I AM looking forward to the next few weeks. And then again...
ReplyDeleteYes, but haven't you just abandoned them for a weekend too?!
DeleteI do think holiday/term times are one of those things that gets very firmly ingrained at a young age. Nothing makes me feel Scotland is a foreign country quite as much as how thrown I am by when the children are and aren't in school...
I see your late June and raise you a late May. Start back sometime in late August. So much time that already 50+ days in, I've still not bothered to confirm exact date. (Yeah, I'm American.)
DeleteThis is my last early motherhood summer. My twins start primary school in August. I'm on the last leg of our summer trip that was the big planning event for our summer. Downhill slope, here I come...after a 10 hr transAtlantic flight tomorrow.
Its not as big a difference as I thought - we only have a week difference at each end. And we're descending on you at the end of that... ;-)
ReplyDeleteI am hoping to move house during the summer holidays. Hah.
Isn't one of the great privileges of paying for education that you get less of it?
DeleteAnother one of those things that shouldn't make sense but does, I feel...
And a house move. ooh!
Eeeek the summer holidays!! Z only goes to nursery 9 hours a week at the moment and starts school in September... I feel terrible for thinking 5 whole weeks without a moment's peace (he LOVES to chat) but know as soon as he starts school I will miss him like crazy. Hope you all have a lovely lazy break x
ReplyDeleteThank you! We've got the twins starting proper school in September (well, August here) too. I'm like you, can't wait, but also in disbelief that my babies are that old!
DeleteHave courage. And wine. And think of us on august 21st when you have your first 5 minutes of peace - we'll still have weeks to go before we can finish a cup of tea when it is still hot!
ReplyDelete