The long summer school holidays are now upon us. Although most kids are overjoyed at the prospect of being in free fall for weeks on end with no structure, for many parents, this may bring a sense of dread as you find yourself having to dig deep for some positive parenting solutions to deal with potentially numerous episodes of acting out, attitude, strops, and tongue biting (yours, not theirs).
The fact of the matter is kids do better with structure and routine – stat. And if your children have additional needs, this is even more so the case. Without these, the opportunity window is potentially wide open for all forms of oppositional behaviour.
The upshot? It may be the school holidays but for many, parents, it feels far from anything resembling a holiday as you juggle having the kids at home while trying to negotiate your own work, commitments and mental load in the mix.
If you have a tween or teen in the house, then you may or may not know that these years are a critical time for our children. Our kids are developing the ideas and beliefs that will shape the sort of person they become, testing the boundaries as they become increasingly independent as the parent-child relationship continues to evolve.
So perhaps you are reading this because you’re dreading the school holidays and worried about your child’s behaviour. Or maybe you have found this article mid-way whilst locking yourself in the toilet frantically googling positive parenting solutions to manage school holiday meltdowns and defiance.
Wherever you are coming from, we’re here to help. That’s why I’ve teamed up with Parenting Coach Dominic Chapman, founder of the parent support group Parent By Design who explains why understanding why your kids behave the way they do is the key to managing their behaviour during the school holidays.
He also shares four ideas that will improve your relationship with your child, help them to come through this period as a confident, resilient and psychologically strong person. And most importantly, help you stay sane!!!
Download our free guide on positive parenting solutions for managing your children’s behaviour
To access our free guide to understanding and managing your child’s behaviour over the school holidays all you need to do is download it for free HERE.
Inside you’ll find insights on:
- Brain remodelling
- Their growing need for independence and how this impacts their behaviour
- How you can meet them where they are
- How to be there for them even though they might be driving you CRAZY
- Changes you can change your own attitudes and how this can improve their behaviour
- and more!
Join our free workshop
I will also be co-hosting with Dominic a free 20 minute workshop for readers of Motherhood: The Real Deal tomorrow, Tuesday 19th June at 1pm on the above topic. The workshop is free to everyone who downloads the guide here.
We will be discussing how you can implement these ideas into your day-to-day parenting, which will also include a Q&A session with Dominic who will answer your questions and walk you through your concerns and any specific issues you might be experiencing. Be sure to sign up for the guide and attend our workshop – just 20 minutes of your lunchtime needed to ensure you can have a less bumpy summer school holiday ahead.
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We’ve been on vacation most of the summer break so far, but now that we are home for the remaining four weeks of summer break, we are getting into a routine and have a loose schedule for our days. It definitely helps my boys know what to expect and keeps my son with ADHD from getting into trouble here.
I have teens and a tween and usually the holidays are OK here. I find my older two tend to want to meet up with friends more often but can get bored easily. I try and arrange a couple of days out to keep them all occupied.
The school break is always a stressful time of year. Thanks for the free guide and workshop!
This is one post I think all parents will find useful as the summer holidays start. It’s a tiring experience for all parents trying to keeps kids fed watered and entertained for the next 6 weeks with ease.
These are fantastic tips! As much as we love our kids, it can be so hard to navigate work, parenting, and boredom.
This Summer has definitely been hard. Especially when I have all six sometimes seven kids here together.
This is such a helpful article. Thank you for sharing all of these tips, behavior during the school holiday is always so challenging.
These tips are so awesome and so very practical!! Love it!