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When we were little kids, my brother and I used to look forward to summer holidays. Usually, it was a full two months in most parts of South India. Both of us were book worms, and being the voracious readers we were, our parents had no problem in managing us during the summer holidays.
We both learned to read by the age of six because we were products of a strict education system, unlike today where the education system requires children to learn by themselves. And, most kids learn to read by eight or nine.
To make matters simpler for both us and our parents, there was a library just across the street where we used to live. We used to go there together, select our books, return the previous day’s books, pay our dues and come back home with a fresh huge stack to pour over.
The librarian became a great friend of ours. Life and holidays were indeed benevolent. We used to visit our maternal grandparents during part of the holidays, and there too, we became members of the local libraries.
In those days, in our little town in India, the concept of summer camps, summer activities for kids, special fun classes, and the like was still a novelty. And, even if some such classes sprung up in our locality, not many kids garnered enough interest to go over and check them out.
Everyone was more or less satisfied and well pleased with their own thing to do during the holidays. And, we were more than happy that our summer pleasure of reading from morning to bed time was not disturbed. Oh yes, our parents were a lucky lot in this aspect. They never had rambunctious kids at hand.
Ah, and now fast forward to the present day and, it is summer holidays for my son. He will be in the next grade sometime in mid June. I have 2 full months stretching in front of me, and I need to keep him entertained not only in the most educative way, but also with fun things in mind.
So, we got him enrolled for swimming lessons. Here, locally, children are eligible to get lessons in swimming only after the age of five and at some places only after seven. We are lucky we found an academy which was willing to give him lessons, now that he is just over five.
Swimming is a good sport, a healthy exercise for his body, will keep him entertained and also provide mental stimulation for him, I thought. And, he loves water. His antics at the swimming pool are definitely worth a separate blog post; I would refrain from commenting about that now. But, I can’t stop myself from letting you all know that he sure is a handful to the instructors there and also is a pet to them all.
We also do a bit of painting, drawing and coloring at home. We read a lot. We watch a lot of educative Britannica Encyclopedia CDs. We watch things about the Universe, Earth, and Human body over and over again. His innate curiosity is never satiated as far as science and education is concerned.
My son plays with other kids his age for an hour or so in the evening and then with his daddy late into the evening. That’s the best play time for this little boy. Usually, on regular school days, he does not get to stay awake so late. So, this is really a treat for him.
We may perhaps visit his grandparents and then his uncle. We may also visit his aunt and my son’s cousins. There is a lot of extended family around in the same city where we keep visiting now and then. Need I mention here that my son adores his almost ninety year old great-grandmother who lives quite nearby?
Except for swimming, we have not enrolled our son in any other tutored instructed activity, except, of course, he has me, his perennial instructor, lol. I wonder what he would think reading this sentence in his adulthood. I think, I will take it slowly, and let him enjoy his happy peaceful holidays. Let him climb trees, watch the sunset with me, tune in to his favorite Tom and Jerry cartoon for an hour everyday and generally goof around doing happy nothings for a while.
After all, there is his whole life stretching ahead when he may not have many two month-long vacations. And, I also want him to cherish free time, value life, be in tune with nature, and treasure being far away from the maddening crowd.
How do you keep your children occupied for such long stretches such as summer holidays? And, what did you do during your long holiday stretches in your childhood? How is this different for what you do for your child?
This is an original post by The Alchemist for the World Moms Blog. You can find her rambling at her personal blog, “The Alchemist’s Blog” and dishing out Indian culinary expertise at AwesomeCuisine.
Photo credit to Brandt Luke Zorn. This photo has a creative commons attribution license.
Purnima Ramakrishnan
Purnima Ramakrishnan is an UNCA award winning journalist and the recipient of the fellowship in Journalism by International Reporting Project, John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Her International reports from Brazil are found here . She is also the recipient of the BlogHer '13 International Activist Scholarship Award . She is a Senior Editor at World Moms Blog who writes passionately about social and other causes in India. Her parental journey is documented both here at World Moms Blog and also at her personal Blog, The Alchemist's Blog. She can be reached through this page . She also contributes to Huffington Post . Purnima was once a tech-savvy gal who lived in the corporate world of sleek vehicles and their electronics. She has a Master's degree in Electronics Engineering, but after working for 6 years as a Design Engineer, she decided to quit it all to become a Stay-At-Home-Mom to be with her son! This smart mom was born and raised in India, and she has moved to live in coastal India with her husband, who is a physician, and her son who is in primary grade school. She is a practitioner and trainer of Heartfulness Meditation.
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I grew up close to the beach, so my mother used to take us to the beach during the summer months when I was a child. Now I live about a 20 minute drive from the ocean, so I do the same with my kids. And, my daughter is going to go for a week of day camp at her school in the mornings, and we’ve joined the local pool club. We try to keep as busy as we can!
Thank you for telling us about how you are doing things over there in India! 🙂
Veronica Samuels 🙂
Oh, the beach! We love it too. But I wish we could go there more often.
Our kids play during their holidays. Sometimes with other kids, sometimes alone.
Playing develops all sorts of important parts of our brain and is hugely under-estimated in modern middle-class life. Thanks for raising this, it’s important. 🙂
I also believe that playing is important for a child’s mental and physical development. And emotional well being too. Thanks for highlighing that 🙂
I like to strike a balance for my 5 year old with structured activites and down time. This summer, he is attending a few day camps and classes, but there will also be alot of non-scheduled days. I find he thrives with structure and routine, both inside our home and out, so I didn’t want to abandon all activities. But I also want us to have some long, lazy days in the mix as well, playing near the river for hours or running around with neighborhood kids all afternoon. Sounds like you found the right balance for your family too. Enjoy!
Tara, The lazy mixed among the routine surely should be fun. Isnt time away from everything else and the crowded days and people truly to be cherished? I am glad you think so too. 🙂
Summer holidays used to be a lot of fun. I remember my mother taking me and my brother to my grandmother’s place during our vacation. There we had a huge banyan tree in front of our house. That was the time when all my cousins and aunts used to get together. We used to have so much fun playing under that tree all through the day. I have played with every other child in the village. I remember playing games which were so traditional and wonder whether kids these days have even heard about those.
But, I feel being in the city, kids have very little scope for good exercise and fun put together in the outdoors. Swimming is an excellent option especially for a kid who loves water. Hope your son has fun.
Yes, gone are the rustic days when any kid used to play with just any other kid in the same locality. I am sure our lives were the epitome of happiness, contentment and generally good physically, mentally and emotionally without play station, video games and summer camps.
Oh, well, today we have to do what we have to do and be with par with this world to a certain extent and not let children become too dependant on those either. A delicate balance to strike, no doubt, but as parents we try to do the best for the kids and the family.
Swimming must be a good way to cool off the summer heat 🙂 But at his age, I think it must be him who’s keeping you entertained with his antics!! Have fun you both.
Tell me that once again. He keeps me entertained and he keeps me mentally and physically stimulated. He makes me run around, he makes me think, he wears me out, he gives me infinite happiness and peace too.
There, I just had to get my poetry out.
Thanks for visiting Yuvani 🙂
With the soaring temperatures, i would not mind getting my kid (When i have one) a playstation or an xbox and keep him/her inside.
ofcourse if he has lots of friends, what one can do abt it… let them enjoy 🙂
Totally agree with you for today atleast!!
Its 104 F (40 deg C) right now outside. And with such an erratic power supply here (the AC is not working; it needs more voltage than what we receive), I dont even want to say anymore!!! Grrr..!
I feel it is you, his trainers and all the other people around who’s getting the physical work. He must be the one who is just having fun and enjoying life and also getting all the attention with the wonderful charismatic persona of his.
And, yes I still recollect those days when we were kids and how we used to spend our time playing till there was no light left in the day to view anything properly and coming back home to laze around and reading books which could never satisfy our ever growing hunger for reading.
But, nowadays, I feel, big cities change the lifestyle in which kids are growing up. Vacation activities are increasingly getting structured and organized and timed. I remeber the time when we used to get up when we woke up, we used to eat when we were hungry, we used to play till we were tired, we used to sleep when we felt drowsy.
But, nowadays I feel that sort of a life does not prevail for kids. There are timings to play, timings for swimming classes and you just can’t go out and play with any kid in the block at any time of the day and in any part of the neighborhood.
I’m glad that your DDSon is enjoying life just like we all did during our childhood and also hope that he takes time out to visit his DDU.
Ah timings! I agree with you about the current day being more bound by the concept of time. But the world is becoming fast. And we have to upgrade too if we dont have to be left out. But I am thankful for those quiet moments we snatch even in these bustling days.
I got nostalgic reading the post. Summer days were so much fun. I remember how we use to wait for school to shut down and we could go out to some hill station with family and have fun. From road side cricket to late night tv shows, everything was so lovely and full of life. I miss those days.