Summer Holiday Survival Guide 2018
So far so good. Since I last updated the blog the French long summer holiday, les grandes vacances, started and we’re now the best part of four weeks in. We learned a few lessons last year that set us in good stead for making a better job of it this year. Thanks to better planning James and I have managed to squeeze in a few hours of work meaning it’s been much easier to do a lot of fun things together as well.
Thankfully the crèche remains open during July, so it’s been business as usual for DS, and by enrolling DD into the Centre de Loisirs for two full days a week she’s had plenty of active play and also maintained something of a routine. In English-speak the Centre de Loisirs is the out-of-hours/holiday club, so it’s not school – there aren’t any formal lessons – but there are organised activities. There’s a small fee to pay but much of the cost is covered by the commune so it’s minimal. They stay all day (half days aren’t an option) and are provided with lunch and groups are split along similar lines to the schools, with places for three-to-sixes and another group for the older ones (up to 10, I think). I’d heard about it last year but was bogged down with all the admin involved in registering a new business and getting my carte vitale sorted out so didn’t have the mental bandwidth or the confidence in French to find out about any of this, I just heard other parents talk about it when asking them what on earth they were doing with their children during the holidays!
Having decided to investigate ahead of the holiday this year, I went along to ask about places and prices and generally scope the place out. I had pretty much decided that she would be going – it’s a nice looking place, a relatively new building with a large lawn area, plenty of shade, some climbing frames and other outdoor gear, plus it’s convenient given DS’s crèche is only a few minutes away – so it was really just about finding out what paperwork I needed and getting her name down! James was not so convinced (I’m not sure he’d even considered it until I turned up with the forms) but I made my case and with the go-ahead from him ran it past DD, who seemed quite into the idea of being able to play with other kids all day rather than being stuck at home with us. On the first day, with varying degrees of trepidation we all went along. (I should add this wasn’t a totally cold start: James had taken DD one Wednesday afternoon before the end of term, so they’d both met some of the staff and the other children and she was familiar with where she was going, and having had a nice time she was quite looking forward to it.) We received a warm welcome, one of the staff showed us where to find a peg for her hat and bag, and then took us into the main room where the other children were busying themselves. There were toys, play areas (some dens), some stencils and coloring pens out on one of the tables and a small group of the older children playing a card game together. One of her English friends was there, which was a brilliant stroke of luck. DD’s friend was also looking a bit nervous so after pep talking them both DD prized herself away from me and joined her friend at the table to do some colouring. Time for one last quick goodbye from me and a sharp exit!
James pretty much paced all day hoping she was alright and was keen to get her as soon as the day officially ended, so at 4.30pm there we were. Bad timing, apparently. I took DD’s sad face and clingyness to be a sign that she’d had a difficult day but it turned out that the upset was because we’d come to take her home and she still had playing to do! Plus they were just about to sit down for le goûter, which involved a squeezy compote, a drink, and a small piece of cake – nice. Who’d want to go home and miss out on that!? She wanted to join in so went off with the group into the garden while we sat and waited, all the while restraining DS who also wanted to get in on the cake/compote action but wasn’t allowed to join in.
The next day her friend wasn’t going to be there and from what she said they’d spent the whole day together and she hadn’t made any new friends. That would mean spending the day with a cohort of entirely French-speaking children, most of whom already knew each other from the village school. As expected she was a little nervous going in but soon drifted into an activity so away we went. Before leaving I asked whether she wanted us to come for her earlier or leave it until after le goûter and it was a hands-down 100% after le goûter – so that was that. We returned at 5 and all was well. Another successful day.
With this and another regular activity, which we we’ve been able to keep up, we’ve had a pretty steady routine on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, which I think has helped us get to this point without feeling too overwhelmed. On Thursdays DS had crèche and I had some meetings to go to, so we’d drop him off then James would come along with DD and they’d play in the park while I did my thing then we’d all head back to get DS and it was just the afternoon to fill: a regular Thursday but with some one-on-one time with DD, who would usually be at maternelle. Fridays were a definite holiday day with everyone at home, so a little more hectic but it felt like a three-day weekend and it’s been nice to have that time to wind down a bit.
This time last year we were four weeks in and already tearing our hair out wondering how do other parents cope with these eight long weeks. But the answer, in the absence of grandparents and extended family, is the Centre de Loisirs and crèche. Even with the two days at the Centre de Loisirs it’s been way more relaxed than term time as it’s a later start and both children are in the same town, so much less back and forth, saving time and money.
With the extra time we’ve also been able to accomplish some really nice “firsts”, including:
- first family camping trip. I can really vouch for the HiGear Zenobia Elite 6 and like it so much we may even make a video review next time it’s up.
- first time swimming with arm bands (feet off the floor!) for DS
- first vegetables from the garden (two different types of courgettes plus cucumbers, chard, and haricot vert)
- first time putting her face in water for DD (she’s been scared of getting her face wet ever since we took her Puddle Ducks at 9 months so this was a Big Deal)
- first time catching a cray fish
- first time feeding caterpillars and watching them turn into butterflies (they were cabbage whites)
- first snake sighting! (this was on the path outside of DD’s school on one of the last days of term)
- first invitation to a school friend’s birthday party
- first bike ride, just me and DD, with her hitched up to my bike using the old Trailer-Gator I bought for my eldest nephew 10 years ago!
And probably a whole host of other more mundane things too. Lots more blog fodder for when the time allows.
But what of the next four weeks? Well, pretty much the whole of France is going to be on holiday so I’ve decided I’m not going to beat myself up about getting next to nothing done. Is anyone? We have a couple of other camping trips lined up, if we can just figure out some good dates with the camp sites, plus some day trips and play dates. Then, with the heat and now both smalls confident splashing around in the water with their arm bands on, I envisage spending as much time as possible in a lake or river keeping cool. They play so happily outside, the time flies by.
I had thought about some bigger adventures, wanting to do a small overnight trek to a mountain refuge and back, but just thinking about the organisation – and in this heat – I’ve decided that’s the kind of trip to make when they can walk all the way and also be persuaded that they want to do it, rather than being dragged into the unknown. Family camping with all the mod-cons is a good option for now.
Now to let a few pictures do the talking…
3 Comments