As France completes its third week of confinement, children in zone C begin to go - or rather, stay - on holiday on Monday 6 April. For parents, this new stage in the confinement can be greeted with a touch of relief (home schooling was not always easy), but also with a little stress (how will we keep them occupied at home for a fortnight?!).
In this article we look at theimportance of these weeks of holiday, and give you some ideas on how to make these holidays memorable for you and your child/children.
Why holidays are important, even in confinement.
First of all, because it breaks the routine for everyone. The confinement imposed a new organisation and required a lot of adaptation from all family members. Any adaptation "costs" our emotional management system. Taking a break from this organisation will allow us to return to it more serenely in a fortnight.
The holidays also allow us to slow down our pace, to match our child's pace, and no longer the school's programme or our work video conferences. We release the pressure, we find what was promised to us at the beginning of the confinement and that many parents have not yet found: time.
If you are not on holiday yourself, you will certainly enjoy it less, but it is still important togive your child this break. Try to make time in your schedule to relax with your child, it will do everyone a lot of good.
On holiday, your child learns in a different way, by playing...
It cannot be repeated often enough: children learn, grow and live through play. Play is vital for the child. From the age of 2 or 3, they are very attracted to games of imagination and pretending. Holidays are a special time when children have a lot of time to play these games.
By playing doctor, for example, the child is confronted with a real situation, and practices experiencing and going through emotions, pleasant or not. By inventing worlds and stories with their knights, dolls, cars and costumes, children develop their creativity and social skills.
Holidays provide real unstructured time in your child's day when they will be looking for something to do on their own. Let's not forget that boredom is key to the development of their creativity. It gives the child time to try things out, experiment, and develop their imagination.
... but also by participating in the life of the home
Holidays at home are also a great opportunity to teach your child to contribute to the life of the household. Choose with your child, according to his/her age, some of the responsibilities that he/she will have (making his/her bed, setting the table, feeding the dog) and accompany him/her in learning this task, until he/she can do it alone.
Invite them to cook with you, to wipe the windows with a damp cloth... it doesn't matter if the result is not perfect. It is an opportunity to spend quality time with your child, and it avoids the costly double task of trying to cook or clean while responding to our child's requests.
How to make those weeks at home feel like a holiday
But even if we are convinced of the benefits of a holiday at home, there is always a touch of disappointment at the thought of not being able to go. That's why it's also important to give these weeks a real holiday feel!
Some ideas to brighten up the next two weeks at home:
Change the setting or rhythm of the day a little: shift your children's bedtime, stay in pyjamas in the mornings, add a family dance before each snack... anything that's "not the usual" can help create a holiday atmosphere.
Invent themes for your evenings: board games, mime evenings, "everyone dresses up", or an evening based on your photo albums to travel back in time....
Vary your meals: why not have a picnic in the living room on Sunday lunchtime? Or a 5-star meal followed by a big ball, and everyone gets dressed up? Or, on the other hand, a dinner with no cutlery and an aperitif?
Get away without leaving! Choose a destination and build a day around it: feel like Spain? Make a paella, dress up in red, yellow and black, improvise a flamenco dance and learn a few Spanish words together! Are you dreaming of India? A good curry, some music and a few mandalas to colour in as a family, it could be like that. Don't forget to write a postcard to your grandparents with your child!
As adults, we place a lot of importance on holidays and the breath of fresh air they give us in our daily lives, and this is normal. Remember that the biggest breath of fresh air you can give your child is quality time with you. In your living room or in the Caribbean, your child will remember most of what you did together.
Happy holidays to all!
Paula Buswell