Opinion: School holidays aren't all fun and games

Siblings and school holidays are not necessarily a successful combination.

If you're like me, the school holidays will be feeling as though they are never-ending.

The school term is great. My children, Master 8 and Miss 9, spend their day at school generally with their own groups of friends so by the time they get home they can predominantly enjoy each other's company until bedtime.

Obviously, this isn't the case every day but, most of the time, they don't spend enough time with each other to irritate each other.

School holidays - particularly the Christmas holidays - are a different story.

The beginning, however, is a novelty. They enjoy the freedom of the holidays, the fact they can play with each other more often and also that they get to stay up a little later than usual.

By the time January rolls around, there are complaints about the way one has looked at the other, the fact that one has a toy/game/or even the remote that the other wants or that it's too hot, too wet or boring.

In my eyes, these are all what I call privileged problems.

They're unnecessary complaints likely prompted by the fact they've obviously had enough of each other by January and begin irritating each other for no reason.

Don't get me wrong ... I get it. I too can appreciate my own space when I'm around the same people all the time but ensuring these kids can enjoy some separate space during the holidays can be tough when you work fulltime.

I'm definitely looking forward to the start of the school year so things can go back to normal. Surely I'm not the only parent feeling the same way at the moment?

How do you keep your children from irritating each other during the holidays? I'm very interested to hear what other parents do, so feel free to email kristin.macfarlane@nzme.co.nz.