That Time Of Year Again ...

The school holidays are just around the corner and I know for a fact that my sarcastic little younger boy is going to go up to wifey and say in his most 'adorable' little voice,

'Mommy, what are we going to do for the school holidays? Oh wait, I know. Nothing!'

That boy can be really sarcastic when he wants to. So this time around, I told wifey way in advance that I'm going to be taking a couple of days off from work once the school holidays start and think of some places to take those two brats. I could do with a little time off myself anyway.

Speaking of school holidays and all, I remember when I was a kid, I would look forward to the 7 week year end school holidays. I would rejoice on the last day of school and the moment I got home, I would throw my bag in some misbegotten corner and start enjoying every moment of the 7 weeks to come. Of course, that would start right after my afternoon nap, most of you know how much I enjoy sleeping ... LOL!

Most of the holidays would be spent with my cousins and we'd most of the time be outdoors in the garden (we had a huge garden in my childhood) getting into all sorts of mischief. In the evenings we'd be playing football, badminton or even hockey in that garden, I did tell you the garden was huge :D Then there are days we'd get on our bikes and head out to some park far away from home to meet up with friends for more outdoorsy fun.

And if I wasn't outdoors with my cousins or friends, I'd either be reading or sleeping. Did I mention I love sleeping? LOL! Back then, we didn't have the luxury of having 24 hour programing on TV. We only had two miserable channels and even then, the programmes would only start from somewhere around 5pm on weekdays, ends at around midnight and late noon on weekends which ends round 1.00 am (I think).

Pathetic isn't it? Unlike today when you can switch on that idiot box anytime of the day and there will always be something to watch (whether it's good or not is besides the point), not forgetting the amount of channels we have now that sometimes I can't even remember what the channels are. With TV being what it was back then it's no wonder we spent most of our holidays outdoors.

One thing I've noticed about kids these days compared to kids those days is that these days they're more of the indoor kinda kids. They don't spend much time doing some of the old fashioned things like rolling around in mud outside, playing football, climbing some tree, exploring some monsoon drain, flying kites (hey, I made my own kites to fly when I was young) or things like that.

Most of the time it's spent in front of the TV all day or playing some electronic game, not forgetting pestering their parents to take them somewhere (LOL!). I guess the fact that the world has changed quite a bit since I was young has played an important part into how kids spend their time now. Parents are also more afraid to let their kids wander around all on their own outside, what with all the loonies out there waiting to prey on little children.

The world is not as safe as it once was. In fact, I'm also not too keen on knowing the boys are out on their own somewhere. Even when the older boy sometimes goes for an evening run on his own around the park near our place and if he's even a minute, late both wifey and me will start getting a little concerned. And I have two boys, imagine if I had girls, I'd probably lock the doors and not even let them outside the house on their own ... LOL!

Besides, with all the distraction kids have indoors these days, there really is nothing excitable for them outside. The last time I took my kids to a forest reserve park, they weren't too happy about it ... LOL! At least I know not to include a forest reserve park on my list of places to take them for the school holidays. I'll bet they would be happier if I took them to an amusement center, the kind that has those racing simulation games. They simply adore places like that.

I don't envy wifey though, she's got a whole 7 weeks of thinking how to keep two hyper active boys occupied ... LOL! Actually, I wish offices would also close during the year end for 7 weeks along with the school holidays. That would be super awesome and if you all vote me to become supreme ruler of the world, I'd make that a reality. Yes, I haven't given up on my quest to be supreme ruler of the world ... LOL!
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