Hooray! Hooray! It’s a holi-holiday
What a world of fun for everyone, holi-holiday
Hooray! Hooray! It’s a holi-holiday
Sing a summer song, skip along, holi-holiday
It’s a holi-holiday
Ok, so this all-time favourite Boney M’s chartbuster was definitely on my mind while writing this piece. But we realise not all are singing the same tune. Whiel children are skipping and singing in glee at the fredome, harried mothers are a worried lot. Holiday season brings cheer to the children but can make mothers scurry in despair.
Do they detest their ‘bundle of joy’ at home this season? The same bundle of joy over which she couldn’t gush enough has since turned into a bundle of troubles. It feels like the baby who was a sweetheart as long as he/she was carried around turns a brat once they are on their feet. “Every title and superlative is an expression of love. Yes, the sweethearts become brats, the angle turns into devil, especially when the long holiday comes but that doesn’t mean that mothers detest them. It only means they wonder ‘how are we going deal with them for a whole two months?” sighs Bhavna Mishra, a business executive.
At an event, when news of her son’s long holidays was disclosed, Ruhee, a yoga instructor and mother almost had a panic attack. No designer cold coffees could cheer her, nor did the thought of the live-in house help whom she had just appointed. “How am I going to keep them engaged? I haven’t yet thought of a schedule. I wasn’t prepared for the holidays to begin so early. Should I enrol for swimming or story-telling sessions?I am more nervous than worried,” she shares.
So, do all mothers react the same way to news of their child’s/children’s holidays? “I guess so, because when my son returns from school and announces, ‘holiday tomorrow’ I quickly begin planning in my head. Because everything right from breakfast, snack, lunch, mid snack, dinner, games, everything comes rushing to my head,” exclaims Vijaya S who works for a publication house.
Bhavna may have a live-in nanny, but that’s no answer to the summer holiday needs.
When things don’t work out the way they are planned, “I take them along with me to everywhere I go. Right from the time I begin my class to finish my groceries. That is one way of teaching them to learn to do house chores. And when I am just too tired handling the two, I pack them off with my husband to his shooting spots. So, that they understand that everything they enjoy in life is the outcome of hard-earned money,” adds Ruhee.
But then, that’s plan B. What is plan A for most mothers who want to keep their children occupied, spend time with them and also not let them complain? “That’s probably a tough task, given the heat, the schedules and options available. This is also the time for me to take a break so I pack me and my daughter to her nani ’s, I am not much keen on cramping this period for my daughter with tasks and projects. I want her summer holidays from the childhood to be filled with things that we read in story books,” says Namrata Kapoor.
But what about kids who look forward to summer camps and adventure activities? “Thankfully for me I have lot of friends who arrange such sessions all over the country. Being a photographer, I accompany them and use the time to explore the areas and the subjects for photographs,” says dentist and professional photographer Namrata Rupani.
Then there is Ryaan, whose tryst with the kitchen began this holidays and he is proving to be of great help to his mom in the kitchen. “I learnt to make an omelette even though I am not allowed to put it in the hot pan. Mum says by next year I will be allowed to do that as well,” says the excited kid.
