Holiday schedule?

School holidays have officially started for all my school-going children. As I reflect, one of the bugbears of school holidays is that parents and children share different images of holidays: parents think of it primarily as a time for catch up on worthwhile things that children have no time to do during the school term, such as studying the weaker school subjects, enlarge their out-of-school knowledge by reading widely, help up with housework etc; the children, on the other hand, think of it primarily as a time to catch up on fun and play. This contrast of views can result in many a conflict situation in the family.

Over the years, I have learnt to accept that, after each academically demanding and physically draining semester, the children deserve some good rest and clean fun. The concern, of course, is the balance - that they don't play too much to a point that the 6-7 weeks pass them by without them feeling that they have also profited in other ways.

One thing that I recommend to the children to help in striking this balance is to sit down, draw up a list of goals to achieve in the holidays, and craft a holiday schedule that helps achieve those goals. In the earlier years, my eldest son would complain that he doesn't like this exercise because he doesn't feel he wants to be restricted by a plan - to him, holiday, by definition, means freedom to do what he likes at what time hen likes. My answer to him was that, contrary to what he thought, having a plan frees rather than restricts. The example I gave was that if I had made a plan of what to do for the coming week, it would mean that I have allocated time slots for all the important priorities in my life, including slots for rest or recreation. In addition, these planned rest slots would have been inserted only after taking into consideration slots for other worthwhile work. Thus, when I actually follow the schedule and go for these rest/play time, I don't feel guilty that I will neglect the other things because I know that I have made plans for them. This means that I can play with full "freedom" without the mind bugging me with thoughts like, "are you sure you can enjoy? Have you done ...?"

After some time, my eldest boy bought in to the idea and practice of having a holiday plan. He says now that it helps him to be more disciplined with the use of his time. Apart from setting aside time for work revision, he is putting in other worthwhile slots like reading spiritually enriching books into his schedule. He is now trying to persuade his younger sisters to do the same.