{"id":2545,"date":"2010-10-25T22:12:52","date_gmt":"2010-10-25T20:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/zaparents-blog\/?p=2545"},"modified":"2022-06-09T21:45:05","modified_gmt":"2022-06-09T19:45:05","slug":"mid-term-break-with-a-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/lifestyle\/holidays-activities-places-to-go-family-getaway-programs\/mid-term-break-with-a-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Mid-term break with a difference"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the long World Cup Holidays, my kids enjoyed another two weeks of holidays at the end of August.\u00a0 So I was surprised that just last Wed, they were home again on mid-term break, for a full five and a half days.<\/p>\n

Normally, this would have stressed me out a bit, because despite being a \u2018stay-at-home\u2019 mom, I have very busy days filled with home repairs, admin, shopping, studying and\u00a0 assignments ( I am currently doing a\u00a0 creative writing course) and all sorts of other obligations. When the kids are on a break, if I don\u2019t plan \u00a0fun activities they tend to spend too much time watching TV and playing wii games, and\u00a0 I end up feeling\u00a0 guilty.<\/p>\n

This time around, I decided to plan to do meaningful things with them. We drew up a list together. Some of the things we included and actually managed to do together were:<\/p>\n

A visit to my mum & sister<\/h2>\n

\u2013 so that they could appreciate time with Granny, Aunty and cousins in Lenasia, a township quite different from Sunninghill, and I could relax and read my book.<\/p>\n

A clean out of some toys, books and clothes, and a drop off<\/h2>\n

at Sefikeng Primary School<\/em> which is located inside Leeukop prison- I wanted them to see the conditions at the school, and how different it looks from their own private school, and hopefully to recognise how privileged they are.<\/p>\n

A visit to the Bryanston Organic Flea market<\/h2>\n

\u2013 they loved this one, and spent an hour dipping candles and doing sand art.\u00a0 We also purchased two beautiful works of art made from recycled paper \u2013 a chance for me to discuss caring for the environment.<\/p>\n

A lunch outing at an adult restaurant<\/h2>\n

– where they behaved themselves reasonably well and we played \u2018hangman\u2019 to keep ourselves entertained \u2013 so we didn\u2019t need a jungle gym.<\/p>\n

A visit to ToysRus.<\/h2>\n

\u2013 one for my son, who had received a gift voucher for his birthday- he had to think carefully about what to buy, since his voucher had a limited value, so it was an exercise in decision making and how to spend limited resources wisely.<\/p>\n

A drop off at the Mondi recycling bin of old newspapers<\/h2>\n

– once again\u2026.an opportunity to teach them how to make a difference to \u2018saving the trees\u2019.<\/p>\n

Having family friends over for Sun lunch<\/h2>\n

\u2013 the mom is my very good friend, and the kids are friends with both my kids, hence their playdate was my playdate. I even gave my daughter a list of things to do to help me prepare for the guests .<\/p>\n

A morning with Dad<\/h2>\n

My hubby took my son shopping for a new bicycle then proceeded to teach him to ride without training wheels.\u00a0 He\u00a0 also took my daughter shopping for her upcoming school camp, while I went to a book club breakfast and then bought\u00a0 seedlings at a nursery, which my daughter planted with her Dad later that evening.<\/p>\n

Board games<\/h2>\n

They even ended up enjoying a lo\u2026ong game of monopoly<\/em>– an old favourite of my school holidays.\u00a0 Thankfully, I went bankrupt and could duck out of half way through the game.<\/p>\n

All in all, it turned out to be a wonderful mid-term break!<\/p>\n

Note: If you enjoyed this article, and would like to stay updated with more, you can:<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n