Why are our children even worse on vacation?

Does your little Jean-Barnabé, usually so cute during the year, turn into a dark henchman of Satan as soon as the summer holidays begin? There are several reasons for this.

Relieves the pressure experienced during the year

If you think a child doesn’t have the pressure in school because he’s only in kindergarten and learning to stick stickers isn’t the most stressful thing in the world, you’ve failed. Kindergarten is already busy, and not just because of its activities. It is a real appetizer of life in society, for children who have always been spared a little until they set foot in school. Each class has its own difficulties, the broad section being the most intense, with the introduction to writing and reading. It’s nothing compared to elementary school.

The more the lessons progress, the more difficult the level becomes, both emotionally and pedagogically. Inevitably, when you’re under pressure in school, it has to come out sooner or later.

For some children it could be in the evening, on their way home. Some parents face what are called “ emotional storms », that is to say more or less manageable types of crises where the precious heir could, if he had the ability, burn cars just to let off steam. You cry, cry, cringe, it all happens and you can only take in all you can, often losing a few feathers in the process. The good news in all of this? It’s because if your child indulges in these outbursts in your presence, it’s because he feels safe enough with you to make them. I don’t know if this reassures you, but it is said.

For the other children, the year goes by normally, and also in the evenings and on weekends. But, when it comes time for the holidays, these moments of big breaks, well, everything clicks and Jean-Barnabé seems to transform into a Gremlins that we would feed after midnight.

Not to mention that we must not forget that during the year the kids are constantly called to order in class to be wise and concentrated: it is not during the summer holidays that we will continue, it is necessary to open the valve.

It’s not easy to live with, neither for him nor for you, but it’s part of the game, and it usually calms down after a few days or weeks, once the pressure has gone down. It’s all about breathing right through your belly, setting boundaries, and sticking with it.

You find out full time and it stings

The other reason your child seems to change his behavior around the holidays is because you’re with him full time, which isn’t necessarily the case for the rest of the year. During these few weeks you will see him 24/7 with no break or respite. Frankly, we love them very much, huh, well, it hurts. It burns because we are used to running them from 5-8pm on weekday evenings, and that we find ourselves working full-time there, when we too wish we could enjoy our holiday. Not to mention that children, these dear little blond heads, are sponges: the more exhausted they feel and at the end of the line, the more they will press the button to make you uff.

It is for this reason that you may feel like you need a break to recover from your late summer vacation. Sorry, but that’s the way it is, it’s part of the game, of course having a relay helps, taking breaks is essential and you have to try to be able to take a step back and tell yourself that sooner or later everything will pass and that day you could regret those chaotic holidays in where everything was just disorder and hastily organised.

This is parenting, there is nothing simple and straightforward about it. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s not even necessarily a good thing, it’s a permanent ambivalence made up of negotiations, organisations, lost battles and postponed moments.

Personally, even if it’s hot, I try to tell myself that one day, it will be me who begs my grown children to come and spend the holidays with us, their old worn-out darons, and that I will be sad when they tell me they prefer to go to road trip with friends. Everything passes, sometimes not fast enough, sometimes lightning fast, just try not to lose too many feathers in the process.

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