Kids are off school! (UK)

[Grimmy]

I don't have any kids, so I'm kind of grumpy at all the crowds of people everywhere. How dare they give kids time off and disturb my peaceful weekdays? Although I did get to see a tweenager eat dirt on his skateboard the other day, so that was good.

If you have kids, do you have any vacations planned for the summer holidays? Any particularly fun plans?

[mrsukyankee]

Jul 25, 2015 8:58:53 GMT -5 Grimmy said:

I don't have any kids, so I'm kind of grumpy at all the crowds of people everywhere. How dare they give kids time off and disturb my peaceful weekdays? Although I did get to see a tweenager eat dirt on his skateboard the other day, so that was good.

If you have kids, do you have any vacations planned for the summer holidays? Any particularly fun plans?

I'm liking that the roads aren't as busy and that I can walk my dog at 8:30am and not run into children/mums freaking out about how HUGE my dog is (he's large but a teddy bear).

[Grimmy]

Yes, I can imagine that's nice. The drive to work is much faster this time of year, for sure. What kind of dog do you have?

[mrsukyankee]

Grimmy, I have a very large fluffy labradoodle:

[dorothyinAus]

I'm not in London, but I agree about things getting hectic and congested when the kids are off school. MIL and I tried to go to lunch the week before last (term break here) and it was a nightmare. I know year-round school with no holidays is not really feasible, but they should not be interrupting my quiet, peaceful, well-planned life by letting the kids out screaming and running about all the time.

Though I have to say, the parents are a bit more mindful of their offspring here than I noticed in the US.

Yeah, I think I'm just THAT kind of grouchy old lady -- though to be honest, I've felt the same way about children since I was in high school.

[UnderProtest]

OMG, I have kids and I'm annoyed. I don't want to go anywhere between summer break and all the tourists. It is just crazy. But then it means staying home with my two crazy kids. Double edged sword.

[Grimmy]

Jul 25, 2015 15:41:56 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

Grimmy, I have a very large fluffy labradoodle:

How sweet

dorothyinAus I feel like a grumpy old lady, too. GET OFF MY LAWN, lol.

UnderProtest That does sound kind of lose/lose. I used to think it was mean of parents to make their kids go to summer camp, when I was a kid and just wanted to lay around all day. But now I get it. I really really get it.

[origami]

I decided to visit family in the US this month because last summer in Seoul was too hot and crazy. Also have no desire to have kids at home during the monsoon season. My kids' school is on a US calendar, for the most part, so our break does not line up with local korean schools at all. But that means DH's work calendar also doesn't line up with our school break so he doesn't have time to take a good vacation. I took the kids to the U.S. by myself. Also some of the nice indoor kids activities shut down when we're off because they take their break early, before the local schools close. When local schools are closed the level of crazy at those playgrounds is mind blowing.

[loira]

Jul 26, 2015 9:22:24 GMT -5 origami said:

I decided to visit family in the US this month because last summer in Seoul was too hot and crazy. Also have no desire to have kids at home during the monsoon season. My kids' school is on a US calendar, for the most part, so our break does not line up with local korean schools at all. But that means DH's work calendar also doesn't line up with our school break so he doesn't have time to take a good vacation. I took the kids to the U.S. by myself. Also some of the nice indoor kids activities shut down when we're off because they take their break early, before the local schools close. When local schools are closed the level of crazy at those playgrounds is mind blowing.

Ugh, summer in Seoul was the worst summer I ever experienced in terms of heat, and that's saying something because I used to live in Rio de Janeiro. Living in Seoul that summer felt like being baked inside a concrete oven - between the heat, humidity, pollution, and those enormous bugs that made noise (cicadas maybe? I don't know, I grew up in the bug free Rockies), I honestly thought I would die. I don't blame you for wanting to get out of there right now.

[dorothyinAus]

Jul 26, 2015 7:00:09 GMT -5 Grimmy said:

dorothyinAus I feel like a grumpy old lady, too. GET OFF MY LAWN, lol.

I don't mind the kids on the cul-de-sac playing in my yard.  But I really don't like them being everywhere I need to go -- restaurants, shops, on the street running and rollerskating/skateboarding, etc.  I'd actually prefer they play in the yard than get in my way when I'm trying to get things done.

So maybe I'm only a partly grumpy old woman.

[frlcb]

Jul 27, 2015 9:34:32 GMT -5 jamaicam said:

And I am willing joining this madness?

We are heading to the UK next week with our 3 and 1 year olds. I know full well that all parks etc will be full of other kids. But as we want to spend time with my niece and nephew, we have to go in the British school holidays. Oh well.

It's really no different than school being off anywhere

[rupertpenny]

School is out here too and I love it. I work at a university and there is a high concentration of secondary schools in the neighborhood (my home and office are very close to each other) so it is so calm right now! I can go eat lunch without battling the crowds or waiting in line for 30 minutes! It's wonderful!

[orriskitten]

We have the opposite here. On summer break EVERYONE leaves. Businesses function at half staff or just shut completely. It feels so lonely with everyone away.

We did take a couple of trips to the country since we have a summer cabin and that was really wonderful. DH and I will probably do one short trip to a glacier lagoon in August and the. A big trip back to the states in September.