DadTalk

Wasn't it a great summer Dad!

Seven sure-fire ways to make holidays fun

We all want our children's holidays to be special. Psychologist Linda Blair explains in the Times Online how to make them memorable for all the right reasons:

Does it seem to you as if all the fun has gone out of parenting? This is now so common that parenting has begun to feel more like a daunting task, instead of the mainly enjoyable and immensely satisfying part of our lives that it should be. That's a real shame, particularly because the more anxious parents become the less chance they have of raising those happy and confident children they so desire.

Now is a particularly good time to rid ourselves of this stressful approach to parenting. With the summer holidays upon us, many parents are putting the details on their annual family holiday, worrying far too much about how to make it one that the kids will remember with delight for years to come.

Seven sure-fire ways to make holidays fun:

1. Choose a destination that you will enjoy at least as much as your children will.

2. Maintain some of the daily routine your kids are used to at home. As a rule of thumb, the younger the child, the more routines should be maintained, particularly bed, nap and meal times.

3. Minimise "frazzle time" - long periods in the car, train or aircraft - and situations when you will have to wait in long queues.

4. Set clear rules, such as "lights out" time, and stick to them - with one exception (see 6).

5. Allow each family member to choose one activity each day. The only "rules" are that it must be safe and that it must be - at least in part - something new to all of you.

6. Let the kids choose one rule that they are allowed to break each day. Agree on this the night before.

7. Just for fun, have one "backwards" day. That is, start the day with supper, baths and bedtime stories, followed by activities usually reserved for the afternoon, followed by lunch and morning activities, then breakfast.

Read the full article from the Times Online