Holidays!
As we end our 2023 school year, I wanted to say how much I have enjoyed working with and spending time with your children, supporting them to be the best that they can be, as well as connecting with you as their parents and carers. I do wish you all a very happy Christmas and New Year. May the holidays bring lots of family fun and memories and a good rest! Keep safe over these weeks and I look forward to seeing you in 2024.
Holidays! ARGH! What does one do over the long break to avoid kids getting bored and without breaking the bank?
With that, allow your kids to get bored. It’s not a bad thing. It actually makes them have to think and consider and decide what they can do without you giving them ideas all the time. It is also good for them to sometimes sit in that space of being bored and become comfortable in the ‘not doing’. Alternatively, give them a few ideas and if they don’t like your suggestions – leave it to them to decide what they can do.
It also is good to do activities with our kids, like read a book together, build a train line, play cars with them, build a sandcastle, play a boardgame, do gardening, cooking or a craft activity together. Let’s make time to do things side by side with our kids.
And what we do with our kids can be low or no cost. Go bike riding. Walk to the playground and have a BBQ or morning tea. Go for a bushwalk, especially with the Dandenong’s on our doorstep. There are Christmas lights everywhere, why not take a stroll and admire them together? Organise a playdate or two with your kid’s friends and their parents (or mind another family’s kids to give their Mum a break and vice versa!) Watch a movie at home and make popcorn. Build a fort with blankets and couches. Camp in the backyard.
A website with lots of family activities on in our area is https://www.mammaknowseast.com.au/ (Mamma Knows East)
I intentionally have not mentioned computer screens here! They can also be a great joint or individual activity – but let’s not limit ourselves to them!
If you are doing it tough over the break, and need support, please keep these agencies in mind:
https://www.1800respect.org.au/ (National Domestic Family and Sexual Violence Counselling Service)
https://www.orangedoor.vic.gov.au/ (The Orange Door)
https://www.lifeline.org.au/ (24 hour crisis support)
https://kidshelpline.com.au/ (24 hour counselling for kids)
https://www.beyondblue.org.au/ (mental health support)
If you need information, advice or emergency relief:
https://www.knoxinfolink.org.au/ (Knox Infolink)
https://templesociety.org.au/champion.html (CHAMPION)
https://www.citylife.care/ (CityLife Community Care)
Sarah McIntosh
Student Welfare