I wouldn’t normally be a complainer about the kids being off for summer.

Sure, in comparison to my nephew in the UK (5 weeks off, total), the Irish school’s time off seems rather.. long drawn out.

Sure, the notion of trying to figure out how to keep their little minds engaged whilst running the hind legs off them every day can be fairly time-consuming and draining overall.

Sure, trying to fit in any grown up activities such as working for a living, in order to fund the summer camps/childminder/possible trip away/endless supply of ice cream required is a bit like pissing in the wind..

…

..yep, actually I’ve just reminded myself what a royal pain in the tits the whole thing is.

This summer is a little bit more of a challenge for us as a family since we’ve just opened Skinny Batch and I’m working more than I was last year so I’ve more to juggle. That’s for starters.

Then we have a small matter of Jacob’s fractured elbow to contend with (please, holy Madonna, the cast comes off in just over a week).

BUT Jacob at almost 6 and Eva at 3 are both at a really good age. They play well together, they were able to attend the same summer camp for the last two weeks, we’re not dealing with nappies or bottles any more so we can all head off together on outings without much fuss. That all certainly helps.

They do need to be entertained though – and while July was jam-packed with family events and summer camps, I’ve left August free ahead of us to just hang out and have some adventures.

I’m also going to take the opportunity to just be at home more and straighten out the 74,000 things that are still ongoing from the house extension LAST YEAR (FML).

The thing is, life is stressful whether the kids are in school or not and I firmly believe that on the days I am overwhelmed, over-worked and over-tired are the days that my family get the worst of me (the version that looks a bit like Twink in THAT puppy-pilfering video – i.e. not great)

So I’ve given myself a few stress management pointers to hit every week in order to manage this summer’s chaos – every Wednesday, I now go to a Barre Class at The Pilates Loft in Rush. It’s a ballet exercise class and I LOVE MYSELF when I’m pointing my toes like a ballerina, ‘k?

When I get home Ass Monkey normally heads off to the gym so I take that golden opportunity to drink a humongous glass of red wine in the bath.

It might not be the healthiest move after my exercise class, but it is the HAPPIEST move.

It’s called balance, people ;o)