July holidays do not require a routine full of activities – 07/05/2023 – Equilibrium

Vacations are synonymous with anxiety and guilt for many parents, as adults do not usually follow the school’s rest schedule and have to do their best to pay attention to the children and carry out day-to-day tasks. Making children happy this time of year, however, can be simpler than most realize.

Experts point out to forget the idea of ​​stuffing children and teenagers with activities, since staying at home (and with a little boredom) should not be seen as some kind of punishment. Parents also reinforce the need for a support network.

For psychologist Sara Camargo Silveira, who holds a bachelor’s degree from USP (University of São Paulo) and technical coordinator at Clínica Platô, protecting the family’s mental health during school recess means letting go of elaborate or extravagant ideas.

She reinforces that vacations are an opportunity to rest from intellectual pedagogical activities and that those responsible should invest in psychomotor and physical activities. “Anything that favors expending energy, such as running, going to the park or taking a walk, is already an event. For children, everything is a game, absolutely everything”, she says.

And if the mid-year holidays are winter and don’t allow you to go out often to play in the park, for example, making a movie with popcorn is already a good option. The screens, the subject of debates about benefits for children and adolescents, can also be an ally, as long as they are used under the guidance of professionals

“The pandemic left a kind of trauma, as if staying indoors was a penalty, and it is not”, points out Silveira.

Lawyer Eduardo Seidi Yoshimura, 38, and psychologist Maria Lídia de Aquino Yoshida, 38, are the parents of Yuna, 3, who was born at the height of the confinement and now attends school.

In July, the schedule is to follow the routine and play with their daughter at home when they are not at work. Yuna’s day-to-day life will be divided between the vacation course at the school and a period with the nanny.

“In terms of schedule, nothing will change for her, just the activities they do with the teachers. It ends up being our normal routine. Since I arrive first, I play with her more. It has been a phase of a lot of stimulation, of pretending, to invent with recyclable materials. We adapt as age and interests change”, says the mother.

The family likes to travel and go on outings, which are distributed between weekends, holidays and parents’ vacations, without much pressure. “Since last year we’ve been taking vacations in June because of Yuna’s birthday, but this was the first one with everyone vaccinated”, says the father.

Rita Scacabarozi Coracini, 38, has the help of her grandparents to take care of Felipe, 7. She and her husband work full time, which prevents them from being company for their son on vacation.

If it weren’t for the grandparents, the way out would be to invest in schools that offer care in July, which would make the period more stressful for Coracini.

“Trying to reconcile work holidays with school holidays would be a good thing, but we don’t always succeed. Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to find somewhere that has a full-time holiday course. That’s why Felipe is already in his grandparents’ city and we totally rely on him. them at the moment”, he says.

On site, the boy has space and freedom to play, in addition to having constant adult supervision to manage the activities. Sometimes he goes to his uncle’s house, who has a video game.

Simple vacations, with friends and family, like Felipe’s, should be enough. Idealizing expectations and setting goals that will make the lives of those responsible more difficult can lead to frustration.

“Any extraordinary activity is a trap that we disarm easily when we understand that simplicity is a good path”, says Silveira.

Inverting the logic that children at home are synonymous with extra work also helps. Telling stories, proposing challenges and making the routine fun, in addition to entertaining, are also tools that promote family intimacy and a sense of worth in children.

“In fact, children can be very good allies in the daily life of the home and family. For adults, household activities are chores, but when we change the filter and put a child’s perspective, washing dishes can be an adventure, a moment of playing with foam or creating colored foam”, he exemplifies.

It’s also important not to feel guilty about not being creative enough to come up with an activity, managing to fill up all of your child’s time, being free to travel, or always feeling relaxed during school holidays.

“Everyone needs to go through useful moments of boredom, in which the mind will be in a calm place to be able to be creative, make associations that rationality and the rush of everyday life cannot do. What I see happening is that many parents they don’t realize what they feel, this desire to also be on vacation, and they really need a lap to try to work out that hard feeling that is not being able to be with their children”, says the psychologist.