I'm quite sure that I am not the only divorced parent in the country cursing the summer holidays. Don't get me wrong - I have a good relationship with my ex-husband - that's NOT the problem!
In our house getting ready to go on holiday always involves Olympic feats of getting my children to different parts of the country for drop off and pick ups - and never at the same time - despite having the same two parents!
Friday saw me at a Year 6 leavers’ assembly at 09:30 and on the road by 10:30 to drop my elder son off at Heathrow for a six week trip to his father who lives in the USA. Then a rush back for the Year 6 after school picnic. In theory plenty of time to do both!
Having settled into Cambridge so well that it now takes wild horses to get me to use the M25, I was dumbstruck to discover that it's being widened again - junctions 18 to 16 in both directions - and that traffic is stop start. So my 3 to 4 hour round trip became a 6 hour nightmare. I feel all the more aggrieved because I lived in Egham during the last round of widening and frequently travelled from there to Cambridge at weekends. I have spent many an hour "parked" on the M25. Had I not been on such a tight timescale on Friday the train would have been a much better option! Luckily I had a plan B and my son was not on his own at the picnic. As the day went on it got more exciting because Caldecote lost it's power for 5 hours in the afternoon - I think everyone in Year 6 will remember their last afternoon of Primary School for a variety of reasons!
This morning (having long since given up the will to live and realising that, no matter how much I want it, there is no point in getting my sons to pack for themselves) I got up bright and early to get through the mammoth amount of washing that son No. 2 seems to have hidden in the TARDIS that is his washing bin. He leaves to follow his brother out to the USA soon and so the packing begins again .........
I am currently updating my Blog whilst waiting for towels to mop up the water that has seeped out from under the washing machine. I can almost guarantee without fail that holiday week will bring out the washing machine's inner teenager with a protest breakdown.
Happy and relaxed holiday time strikes again!
In our house getting ready to go on holiday always involves Olympic feats of getting my children to different parts of the country for drop off and pick ups - and never at the same time - despite having the same two parents!
Friday saw me at a Year 6 leavers’ assembly at 09:30 and on the road by 10:30 to drop my elder son off at Heathrow for a six week trip to his father who lives in the USA. Then a rush back for the Year 6 after school picnic. In theory plenty of time to do both!
Having settled into Cambridge so well that it now takes wild horses to get me to use the M25, I was dumbstruck to discover that it's being widened again - junctions 18 to 16 in both directions - and that traffic is stop start. So my 3 to 4 hour round trip became a 6 hour nightmare. I feel all the more aggrieved because I lived in Egham during the last round of widening and frequently travelled from there to Cambridge at weekends. I have spent many an hour "parked" on the M25. Had I not been on such a tight timescale on Friday the train would have been a much better option! Luckily I had a plan B and my son was not on his own at the picnic. As the day went on it got more exciting because Caldecote lost it's power for 5 hours in the afternoon - I think everyone in Year 6 will remember their last afternoon of Primary School for a variety of reasons!
This morning (having long since given up the will to live and realising that, no matter how much I want it, there is no point in getting my sons to pack for themselves) I got up bright and early to get through the mammoth amount of washing that son No. 2 seems to have hidden in the TARDIS that is his washing bin. He leaves to follow his brother out to the USA soon and so the packing begins again .........
I am currently updating my Blog whilst waiting for towels to mop up the water that has seeped out from under the washing machine. I can almost guarantee without fail that holiday week will bring out the washing machine's inner teenager with a protest breakdown.
Happy and relaxed holiday time strikes again!
