Easter Holidays

Ah, the school holidays are back.
Deepest joy of joys.
Each school holiday is an opportunity for me to exploit my job ( as Mother ) to its fullest and grasp every chance to show Charlotte and Rebecca what a hands-on, creative, inspiring, wonderful Earth Mother I am.
But I don't.
Instead, I nag incessantly at the state of their rooms ( they are 9 and 6, they can't help it ! )
grimace at the grey clouds, moan at the cost of doing anything that doesn't involve a picnic at the park, encourage them to get arty then scream inwardly at the sight of paint, glitter, felt and things-salvaged-from-their-bedrooms..... whilst every other Mother worth her salt seems to be off down the local play barn/zoo/beach every day, regardless of thunder or lashing rain.
But, we had fun. We did. Despite me !
We went to Blackpool and walked the dogs in the sunshine, ate good food, had sleepovers at their Aunties, made birds nests in the woods, swam, painted, saw a couple of friends and relaxed.
When I was a girl ( a phrase I swore I'd never use ) holidays were for doing nothing. We had no schedule, no itinerary, no routine.
We woke up and there were no plans.
Nothing.
We slept in, read books, rode our bikes, played in the field, got muddy and dirty, picked caterpillars off the cabbages on our neighbours allotment, watched cartoons on the one channel which played them for kids in the daytime ( and when they were over, that was it... no skyplus, no video even then ), went to bed early and stayed up chatting and watching the moon, writing a diary, playing connect 4 and snakes n ladders.. no nintendo, playstation in sight.