Milk and Madness

And then they're quiet for an hour and you're like, are they okay? Like you have to go in and check cause you're like, this is not normal.

Why are they so quiet?

I think it's so funny because if we were in that situation now and Kenzo didn't have those excursions and didn't have activities to do, I think he would not deal with that because he's so used to it.

I was thinking about this because, man, we do a lot for these kids. We do. Come on, pat on the back, like gold star for us.

Because Kenzo every morning has been asking us if it's a school day.

And then when we say, yes, it's a school day, he said, why? I don't want it to be a school day. I don't want to go to school.

Hello, friends. Welcome back to another episode of Milk and Madness podcast with your hosts, Nhi and Dee. I'm Nhi. We have some exciting news. We have officially survived our first round of school holidays. Drumroll, please. Yes, just as we were getting used to the school routine, we were thrown into the whirlwind of the holidays. Hi all, Dee here. For our listeners who might not be familiar, here in Melbourne, Australia, the first school holidays in the academic year kicked off on Friday, March the 29th, which is Good Friday.

And it runs for two weeks. So obviously holidays are very different in other states in Australia and all over the world. So I just thought we'll let you guys know that's our first school holidays happened over the last two weeks. So overall for me, school holidays was actually a really positive experience. I know I might not be popular because most parents hate it, but I really actually enjoyed the school holidays. So I've got a couple of like best and worst things. Ironically over the school holidays, I had more me time and that's because the kids were home.

So I actually went into the office a lot more than what I would normally do. And that drive into the office and being in the office, it was a lot more me time than what I would normally get. Didn't have to make school lunch boxes. Hello, no brainer. And I really enjoyed that the kids got to do things out of their normal day to day routines.

And we had a lot more time to do that. And then obviously cuddles because they missed me at the end of the day, not because I'm annoying and needy. Maybe a little bit because I'm annoying and needy, but they were willingly giving me cuddles this time as opposed to me forcing them. No, I'm kidding.

Some of the worst things though about the school holidays was really keeping the kids entertained, keeping them occupied and that, they just get bored so easily.

Obviously the cost involved, we didn't put our kids in school care. But we still were doing activities while Calvin was anyway. So the setup in our household was that Calvin took annual leave for the two weeks. And I was still working. So he was doing like a lot of activities with them.

The kids being in each other's space Amelia obviously goes to childcare, but we decided to use up her holiday days and have her at home. So she could be at home with Calvin and Aiden as well. And that was from a cost perspective as well as, letting them spend some time together. So they were in each other's space 24 7 and they were constantly fighting, which was not fun.

And then to the cost that I mentioned before, buying new toys, keeping them entertained. We bought new toys, but made them into like treasure hunts so that they wouldn't just get the toy. They had to actually work for it, so to speak. So that became an activity in itself.

So all of that, it was quite exhausting, but all in all, like I said, it was. It was an enjoyable experience. What about for you? How was your setup? And what are some of your best and worst things about school holidays? Yes. So our setup was a bit different to yours. I I took a couple of days annual leave and Matthew, my husband took a couple of days as well.

And then we had some other people help us. So, Credit to your husband because. I was reflecting on this actually this morning when I was getting ready, but he is the only person outside of family who we have trusted to look after Kenzo all day without us there. Like he's literally the only one.

And it's something that. it's pretty major actually, because we feel pretty strongly about that. I feel really strongly about sleepovers and Kenzo's not going to be doing any sleepovers. I think outside of family and, yeah it's something I feel quite strongly on and we have had invites before for, Oh, if you need help, we're more than happy to have Kenzo or Ambrose all day.

And we've always said no, because I don't know, it's just something I'm not that open to, but yes. With Calvin, your husband, he's the first one outside of family who has looked after our kids without us there. So I think yeah, that's. That's really big for us. So our setup was we took a couple of days off each.

And Calvin, your husband had Kenzo two days during the two weeks. And then I had my brother come and also look after Kenzo on a couple of days. So really for us to get through the school holidays, the whole village mentality was really, we lived that. And I think the best things about the school holiday is, look, I think it was nice for Kenzo to have some time off from school.

Like he's worked really hard that first term. It was a term of so much change. So for him to have some time off was really nice. The worst thing is look, he was on school holidays and we weren't on holidays. There was definitely added stress, added pressure in terms of making it all work , making sure he was entertained and occupied and not bored to death was something that I found quite stressful too.

Because you're still trying to juggle work and do everything else that you normally would do. But the only difference now is that. Your kid is at home or available. That definitely took up some more mental space for me. And obviously, lunch boxes. Oh my gosh. It's so funny how something so small can impact your morning because even last night I was like, all right, I'm going to pack his lunch.

The night before, like D said, I think it did help, but the issue for me is not having to pack it. The issue is because he's so picky. He's such a picky eater that it stresses me out thinking, Oh my God, is he going to eat any of this stuff that I pack? Is he going to be hungry? And then, if he's hungry, he's not gonna have no energy to think and all that.

So that's where the real the stress comes with the lunches for me, but not having to do them was nice. But yeah, I think that was my setup. Nice. Nice. And you got through. You got through. I think your setup was a lot harder than mine in that you, you are, you're trying to juggle having the kids home, even if, your brother or whoever was over and babysitting because they still want you and you're still trying to work.

Like regardless, you still have to, they're there, you can hear them. And it's not the same as like me just be like, okay, bye. Going off to the office and having coffee and just doing my thing. I would say that your setup was not the norm and I, you won't be having, you won't be doing that every school holidays, right?

So I think it's nice that you do that for the first one, but I'll be interested to see how your next holiday goes. When, yeah, I think I'm on the hook for, to take leave next holiday potentially. And I'll be the smart parent. I'll be like, you're going in school care.? Yes. Wow. Yes. We also did school care.

I forgot about that. School holiday program stuff. And look it's more expensive than the normal before in school care as well. So we only did one day of that. And that was when they did the excursion to the Melbourne zoo, which he enjoyed, but it's a really big day. And that was his first excursion as well.

So that was really exciting for everyone. I was a bit nervous about it, but he was all good, of course. And yea so in terms of keeping them occupied and entertained and not bored , what was your approach to that? Or Calvin's approach, so obviously it was all Calvin. Let's not tell him cause he'll get a big head, but yes, it was all Calvin.

And he did a really good job. Like I actually thought . He was going to really struggle. Cause I know how hard it is to look after kids 24 seven. And you're not just looking after the kids, but you're trying to manage the household and all of that. So I do know how hard it is. And I'm like, Oh man, it's just, I'm just going to have to ride out the next two weeks and just deal with the mess and deal with the, whatever comes of this, but all in all yes, there were a few hiccups and yes, there are a few things that we're still dealing with now.

Having to go back to school, which we'll talk about later, but all in all, he did really well. We were really lucky in that we had a bunch of Lego that is new that we've got hand me downs that we haven't given to the kids yet. So what we do when it's their birthdays or Christmas

we tend to put aside a lot of the toys and we periodically bring them out and so that they feel like their new toy. So instead of them getting it all at once, opening it up and then getting bored of it within a couple of days, we actually put it aside. So I have a storage area where I keep all their toys and we rotate, even once they have opened, we rotate those as well.

We also have the toy library that we go and borrow toys from. So we're really lucky that we have. a lot of different avenues where we can get new toys from that either don't cost us a lot of money or it is gifts that is theirs anyway. So we really rotated those toys around and he just let the kids play like he just let the kids play. He made sure they had the toys. They're available when they needed him. He would go and play with them. But otherwise he just let them do their own thing. And they were fine. They were so entertained because it was new and it was exciting.

And it's always the toys that they're bored of that. I find that they get they easily get sick of or they start fighting about. It's the new ones that they're like, Ooh, what's this about? And then they're quiet for an hour and you're like, are they okay? Like you have to go in and check cause you're like, this is not normal.

Why are they so quiet? What about for you guys, obviously when you had annual leave and you were looking after the kids or Ambrose was still in childcare, right? Yes. Yes. So Ambrose was in childcare and we had, Oh yeah. So the start of the school holidays was the Easter break.

I think that's really nice that they time it like that. We went camping we went to a place called the Buchan Caves and that was really great. Actually, I'm a big. camper. I love camping. Give me a shovel. Yep. I'm all good. My husband's not so into camping, he likes the finer things in life.

And so we had a campsite. I've never had a campsite with power before. There was, showers. toilets, everything. So was it really camping, maybe not, but it was the kids first camping experience like properly. And they really loved it. You could go down into the caves, which was really amazing.

So that was like a big thing for the school holidays. And then we were probably more activity focused. So when I had him, we caught up with some friends and we, rode bikes around the lake and that kind of stuff. And then Matthew took Kenzo to see a movie. I took him to Legoland.

Yeah, so there was quite a lot of activity, even like I suppose, going to your house to hang out with Uncle Calvin's daycare. That was an activity, right? That's his activity for the day. So we were probably more activity focused. And then the days that I did have him a couple of days at home when I worked And yeah, that was obviously I couldn't really do activities, but he had his Lego and I bought some other like painting activities that you could do at home and that kind of stuff.

So Kenzo gets bored pretty quickly, but if he's interested in something, then he could be hyper fixated for hours. So it's just finding the things that he's interested in and can occupy so that I can have a meeting. He did make a guest appearance in a lot of my work meetings. So I'm really grateful that I work with very understanding people and as a very small team.

So it wasn't a big issue, but yeah. So more activity focused for sure. Just thinking in terms of this, what were your school holidays like when you were a kid? Do you remember? Yes. Because I was thinking about this because, man, we do a lot for these kids. We do. Come on, pat on the back, like gold star for us.

A little bit. Because school holidays for me, I was raised by Disney. I was at home, in front of the telly, watching a lot, by the way. This explains a lot. Does it? Mum was, she was working. She take time off and that's, it's how she was raised. Her parents didn't take leave or anything like that.

She was working all the time. School holidays were literally me and my sister at home, eating two minute noodles. Watching Disney movies all day, every day and that, that's pretty much it. I feel like I kept a diary and honestly apart from maybe doing some homework and I was in high school, but definitely primary school, I think it was just watching TV 24, for the eight hours or whatever it was.

What about for you? Do you recall? I recall bits and pieces, but I think similar to you where, my mom didn't have the money or the time really to do all the stuff that we do now, and that was okay. I think I understood really early that, my mom as a single mom, she had to work and it was tough.

So it wasn't, I don't think it was an issue for me. I think it's so funny because if we were in that situation now and Kenzo didn't have those excursions and didn't have activities to do, I think he would not deal with that because he's so used to it. Yes. Like we've set them up to be used to that and to expect it's the norm.

Whereas when I was growing up, it was totally normal for my mom to be working. She sews, or she used to sew. So you, she used to just be in her room sewing all day because that's how she made money and you don't make a lot of money doing that. And so my sister and I just remember it was really us two.

And we just played in the backyard. I used to, I just remember we had Barbies, I would put their makeup on and cut their hair thinking the hair would grow back, but it didn't. And we had a what do you call it? Like the clothes hanger. I remember holding onto that and like swinging around.

I actually broke my arm that way, but that's another story, but we used to just get up to all these activities and it was a lot of role playing. I remember, I'll be the teacher. My sister would be the student or the vet and all that kind of stuff. So that was really great. I think it was I don't know.

I think it was lovely in a way. Because we didn't have all these new fancy toys or, a box of Lego and all that stuff. So we had to entertain ourselves and that was expected. And we knew that and we did. And so I think, yeah, I don't know. It was very different, but still good.

In a way, I don't have any trauma from that or anything like that. I just remembered that we used to do the same. So we used to put on shows. So like when mom would come home, we'd have a choreographed dance show and all that sort of stuff. Yeah it was just different.

You're right. Like it's not bad or good or anything like that. It's just different experiences. But speaking of screen time, cause I did have a lot of screen time. I'll admit that. How did you manage that? Did you find that. Over the school holidays, you're like, I just need you entertained.

I know Kenzo probably doesn't watch as much TV, but did you find it was more screen time, less or about the same? It was probably less overall because we were out and about and doing activities. But the days that I had him at home by myself. Yes. Oh my God. Yes. The screen time was, I don't know, three, four times more than usual.

We're not so strict on screen time. I think my rules with screen time is that they're not just sitting there watching it by themselves. Matthew or I are there watching with them. Usually I would say like 90 percent of the time, unless we're cooking or something, that kind of stuff that I need them to be occupied and not

in my space when I'm cooking, but generally where we're not so strict on screen time, I'm okay with watching stuff together. And usually a lot of the stuff that we watch is how things work. Last night, we were talking about how cars are made. So this morning we were watching YouTube videos on how cars are made.

And Kenzo's mind was just like blown watching like the robots and the machines, just like putting stuff together and how cars are painted. Oh my, he was just so excited. But yeah, the videos we watch are generally that. Or we might put a movie on. We make it a big thing. We make, we have some popcorn and we make the living room more dark.

But there is obviously time where we just put on some, Netflix show or something like that. And I'm okay with that. But yeah, definitely more screen time on those days where I had just Kenzo and me, and I needed him to be occupied whilst I was in a meeting . But yeah, how about you?

Overall, I think probably yes, definitely more screen time. But the same thing, like they were doing activities more than they were at home. Apart from the day that Kenzo was over on the two Wednesdays, I think they pretty much had activities every other day. The thing is, normally we don't let them watch TV at night.

So we're not super, super strict, but a lot more strict than you guys are. We have certain days where we will let them watch TV. So usually Sunday nights, definitely Friday nights is like my night. So I get to pick to watch something so I'll do you, I'll watch like home reno shows and like they've got like things about cooking in there and stuff.

So like they watch as well and they talk about flowers and they travel and they do all sorts of things. So it's like they get to see that, but. When you are at home in each other's space all day, every day, or you go out for a big activity, sometimes you just need that sort of downtime.

So they did have a lot more screen time just to give them that space to like, settle down, have a bit of a rest and not bicker and be in each other's faces. And obviously to give Calvin a bit of a break as well, because it's hard work. So it's so tough. You did so well. Yeah. So definitely more screen time.

All in all which is sometimes hard to peel back from because they, my kids they do love those shows where they learn how to do things, but they're like obsessed with Spider Man. Both Aiden and Amelia are obsessed with Spider Man and they just want to watch Spidey all day, every day.

And I'm like, can we watch something educational? Because I've seen this episode 12 times already. Yeah. Yeah. You can quote it. Yeah. It's what they like. I can't do much about it. Yeah.

So let's talk about returning back to school. Cause as we said, we started school. When was it? Was it right at the end of January? Yes. Yeah. And then at the end of January, we had all of February, which they didn't go to school full time cause they're in prep, and then March, end of March, they go into holidays, so we really only had a month of proper full, five days a week of school. Plus there was a couple of public holidays thrown in there. So really the introduction to school. It was a nice, easy introduction, but it started getting into the flow. Then they went on school holidays and now we've got to go back to school.

So we've had today's Wednesday. So Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, we've had three days back. How has that gone? Yeah, yes, I think easing them into this such a big change, absolutely great decision to do in terms of just the dates , but having school holidays so quickly.

Is difficult because it's resetting everything that we worked really hard to get in place for the first term in terms of, just like that excitement. And then that excitement, wanes. And then it's Oh mom, I don't want to go to school. Is it a school day? I don't want to go.

What do I have to go to before school care, all that stuff. And then like pushing through all that and now we've reset. So honestly, this week has been difficult for us because Kenzo every morning has been asking us if it's a school day.

And then when we say, yes, it's a school day, he said, why? I don't want it to be a school day. I don't want to go to school. And then we have to, talk to him about why school is important. Then he said, he doesn't want to learn. He doesn't want to learn anymore. I'm like you're going to be really bored, honey.

So literally the conversation is just back and forth. It's really cute, it can be frustrating. And then there's an impact of Kenzo not wanting to go to school because Ambrose, my youngest sees that. And then he's saying he doesn't want to go to school either. And I'm like, yes, you do.

He loves school. You have so much fun and all that. So then we had this discussion with him. He's not even three yet about it. And look, I did anticipate that because you're not going to love school every single day and school can be demanding. And I think, it can be quite difficult for my oldest Kenzo because he has a little bit more issues with focusing, I think, than other kids his age.

And he's so interest driven that, if it's a day where they're doing stuff and he's not that interested in that, it's a hard day for Kenzo. So yeah, look I get it. It's hard. You're a kid, you're warm in bed. I don't want to get up and, get changed as well. But as a grownup, you can justify that and navigate through that, but it's hard for a kid.

So yeah, look, it has been hard. How about you? It was fine up until this morning. Oh, okay. The first two days were fine. No issues, smooth sailing. Today though, It took me half an hour to leave before school care because he just did not want me to go. So one of the things that I'm really struggling with that I still haven't figured out how to, I think that by now I've worked some stuff out, but I haven't, I'm still really struggling with managing my time with the kids in that we do a lot of activities together as a family.

And what I noticed on the Saturday that just passed is the kids were really upset because I was taking Amelia to her sports and Aiden wanted to come and she didn't want him to come. Anyway, it turned into a big thing, like a huge thing where Aiden got really angry and he was just really, his behavior was just really poor.

It was really bad. Anyway, I had to think about it and I'm like, okay, where is this stemming from? And why are you both so angry and what's going on? And I spoke to them and I managed to get out that , Amelia wanted to spend some time with me, one to one, and Aiden wanted to spend some time with me, one to one.

So we sorted that out in that. I'm like, okay, I'll take her to sport and then I'll come home and then we'll go and do an activity separately and then Amelia, you can spend time with your dad and, that way you've got some one to one time with each of us. Although they mostly want, one to one time with me because they just spent two weeks with their dad.

So they're still, they're, they're mommy's kids. Like they just want to spend time with me. So anyway, this morning, yeah, this morning was that issue where mommy, I don't want you to go. Please stay. I want to play chess with you. And I'm like, Aiden, I have to go. I, that's the whole point of before school care.

I've got to go, I've got to go to work. I've got things I need to do. So that was really hard this morning. The last two days, he didn't go to before school care. So I had him at home, drove him to school, the bell went, I was there, saw him walk off. And he was content with that. He was happy with that. So potentially I might have to cut out the mornings.

Like he just doesn't like before school care. He's fine with after school care. I actually can't get him to leave after school care. The Monday when I went to pick him up, he's like, why are you here? I'm not ready to leave. And we were there for half an hour till six o'clock when they closed basically.

So then Tuesday I'm like I'm not coming to pick you up till six. Like, why am I coming so early if you don't want to go? So I don't know what it is with before school care. He just doesn't like it. He just doesn't want to let go. He doesn't want to say bye. He's happy with school. He's fine with school.

Yep. It's just a before school care and he just wants me to be there with him all the time. So I have to find a way of making sure that he spends enough time with me, which obviously he gets in that morning when Amelia is gone. It's on the weekends. I'm just going to have to be like, okay, one day, half day with you or whatever.

A couple of hours with you, a couple of hours with you. And then hopefully that'll mean that before school care will be a little bit smoother, I always find there's a bit of a one and a half week lag. I don't know if you've noticed this, but with Aiden, I always find that whatever happens, generally there's like a week and a half lag.

So I reckon next week we'll see how things go by mid next week. I reckon it'll be like, okay, cool. We'll keep you posted everybody. Yeah, I have some thoughts on this because I think the thing with before school play is that so it's called before school care, but we call it before school play.

And we call it after school play, right? So yes, I'm like, we've got before school play today. It's going to be fun, all this stuff. So I think you can reposition it somehow. But then there's also the fact that he has to say bye to you. That's a difference, right? Because after school play, he doesn't have to say bye to you, literally seamless transition from school

so that's the difference in terms of spending time with you. Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's something that Matthew and I do really well. And sometimes it's not planned, but it just works out that way because I don't want to take both out, because it's easy just to deal with one.

I think every weekend I spend some time with them individually and Matthew too. And then we all spend time together. So you know what you could do? And we do this, but we're not doing it so much now, but we used to do it is that why don't you sit with them and a calendar and then work out when you have dates with them.

So I call it dates. So I'll be like, Kenzo, let's, have a lunch date today. He's yeah, like, where do you want to go? What do you want to eat? What do you want to do? And he knows it's just our special date and he'll refer to it. In a few weeks or whenever it pops into his mind, he'd be like, mom, do you remember when you and I had that hamburger date, that lunch date, or we did this thing yeah, so it definitely means more to Kenzo because it's older.

Ambrose doesn't understand the whole date thing yet, but he obviously knows that we have time together too. So try that. I reckon make it a big thing in terms of it's important to you, it's in your calendar, it's marked and they can decide what you guys do in those couple hours or lunch or whatever it is.

And then also make sure that they both know that they have these dates coming up so that when Aiden goes in this date, or Amelia's going on her date, he knows. And vice versa. Yes. That they've got dates coming up. And then obviously when they have dates with you, they're gonna have dates with Calvin too.

So it, it's, and then you can have family dates where we have like family dinners all together and I don't know, it might, I think maybe it sounds so exhausting. No, it's fun. It's good. Yeah. Yeah. I really love my dates with the boys. And yeah, so maybe try that. I think just shift the perspective on before school play, which look for us is still work in progress and similar to Aiden, Kenzo didn't have before school play Monday and Tuesday.

He only does Wednesdays and Thursdays. And we're also trying to change after school play. So during the holidays, Kenzo said he doesn't want to go to so many of these things. And I'm like, okay, I'm going to have a proper grownup chat with him about this. He said to me, he didn't want to go to before school play and after school play so often.

And I'm like, Great. That works with me too, but we need to, you need to show mommy that you can stay home and mummy can still work because and I always say we need money to have food. We need money to do activities. We need money if you want to buy this new Lego set, whatever it is. And on Fridays, starting this week, he's not going to have after school play, and he has to prove to me that he can not interrupt meetings or all that kind of stuff for Fridays.

And if he does, then he's going back to after school play. This is something we've talked about. It's like we've negotiated. This is the deal. So we'll see what happens. But I digress. I think if you shift, try to shift the perspective, I think it might help. And your kids are smart. So I think they'll get that in terms of the dates and the special one on one time.

I think they will. The problem is they're too smart. I already know what will happen, but I will try it anyway. It'll be Aiden's day for a date, Amelia would want to come and then she'll crack it and vice versa. I guarantee you that's exactly what will happen, but whatever. And that's why Saturdays now, we'll do the sports in the morning with Amelia, take her and then do something in the afternoon with Aiden, maybe take him to the racing track and he can run or something and then try and sprinkle in some proper dates, like going to the movies or going to lunch or whatever, like not just activity, like I'm taking you to your activity today versus your dad..

Yeah, no, it has to be proper one on one time. It can't just take them to sport. It could be that, but then you need to do something after. Can't just take them to do grocery shopping? You can, if you make him help you, like it becomes something that you two are doing together, like maybe together you put the list of what you need.

And then you, when you get there, he's grabbing the eggs, maybe not the eggs, maybe he's grabbing things that won't break. Like you're going to make it an activity. And then maybe after you guys have lunch or something, like it's going to be, it's going to be fun. See how they go. Stay tuned.

But definitely a work in progress and I thought I got better at it and then must've dropped off over school holidays and obviously I'm feeling the effects of that now, but before we wrap up today's episode, is there anything else that you are going to do differently next school holidays or any advice that you want to give our listeners?

Yes, absolutely. I think for us, we knew the first term was short, but then it still just pounced on us. So I was like, Oh my God, school holidays in two weeks, Matthew. He's like yeah, I'm like, okay, so you knew this. Are we going to plan? What are we doing? So I think my advice and what I'm definitely going to do for next term is, and I put a reminder in my phone calendar.

Start planning way ahead, right? So if you're going to be on, if you're going to take leave, Diana, like what days are you going to take? Kenzo, right? For example, or what are we going to do? What days are we going to take off? Are we taking days? Who's looking after this? Is he going to go to holiday school

care stuff, like just that was really rushed and I don't like rushing stuff. And so that would be my thing, my advice and what we'll do next time is just be ahead of it, plan it, know what's going on. And then I will feel less stress during the whole thing. How about you?

So next school holidays is actually going to be quite different, I think. So this one was Easter. So, I actually took the day off before Good Friday. So I had the Thursday off. So we had the five days off together. So the Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, which were all public holidays. And so that was really good that obviously I could share that time and spend that time with the kids.

And I could help Calvin out a little bit. So he wasn't doing it all completely solo for the two weeks. Next school holidays is going to be very different. So I think we will have to plan our days a little bit better. And I want to actually put him in school care because I think that'll help the transition going back into before and after school play.

Yes. I can start using that. Because I think having all that time at home, Aiden loves being at home. Amelia loves to go out. It's Oh, I'm going to put petrol in my car. I'll come. Just get petrol. Like you don't need to come. She just wants to come to everything. Whereas Aiden is no, I want to stay home.

I'm happy to stay home. So I think getting him out. And doing all that will help with the transition going back into school. And obviously he'll be around his school friends and all that. So it will look very different next time, which will probably be like tomorrow. The rate, the time is flying. Advice....

I think do what works for you. So there's no one size fits all. If you can take leave, then take it. If you can't, then just put them in school care. There's no right or wrong. There's pros and cons to both. Do whatever works for you. And don't stress if you have to put them in front of the TV to watch Disney movies all day.

I turned out okay. You're alright. Alright. Do what you have to do but I think if your kids are anything like mine and they need a lot of time, try and sprinkle in some one to one time in there so that they're not, it's not so jarring when they have to go back to school and then their time with you is more limited.

Wise words. Yes.

All right, so that does wrap up today. As we eagerly await the next school holidays, not. We'll be right here with more stories, tips, and laughs to help you through. Until next time, guys, stay strong, stay sane, and just embrace the madness.

This is Nhi and Dee signing off. Catch you later, friends. Bye.