With school officially out for summer, parents up and down the country will no doubt be run ragged trying to keep their young kids entertained for the next few weeks. Journalist, broadcaster, and mum to seven, Jen Hogan joined Jennifer Zamparelli on 2FM to share her tips. Listen back above.
The summer holidays signify freedom and relaxation for students, a time with no homework, fewer early mornings and long days spent playing with friends. For parents, however, it can be a long and daunting stretch of time trying to keep their kids occupied and busy enough to let them get on with their days and unwind a little too.
Jen Hogan is particularly experienced at finding the balance between rest and fun, as a busy mum of seven kids - aged between 22 and seven, including three at primary school age and three teens. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, her house is "chaotic" during the summer.
"There's so mant kids with so many different needs at so many stages of life, and I work a fair bit from work, which helps, but then it also doesn't help because you're trying to interview somebody for the paper and someone else is coming in and they've been walloped with a light sabre or they want a snack."
She adds that the "mum guilt" can be a challenge, too. "If you are at home then you are not properly working as far as they're concerned. You should be available to them a little bit."
Summer camps are one solution to the struggle of juggling it all, as Hogan says: "They're a great opportunity for kids to do something that floats their boat and something that they enjoy." This becomes more important if the kids aren't particularly enthused about school.
Many parents, she added, use camps as childcare, which can lead to "expectations" that prove to be largely unrealistic.
"They're hugely costly if you've a few kids. They're a lifesaver in one regard but they're expensive which means that it prices some parents out and if you've got a number of kids it's trying to find something to suit them all."
There's also a lack of options for teenagers, Hogan noted, aside from the odd sports camp or more exclusive camp that is "often out of the price range of a lot of parents". "For the younger teens, they find it really hard to get work because places don't want to hire under-18-year-olds."
When it comes to keeping kids occupied, getting them outdoors and playing is the priority but Hogan also acknowledges that sometimes that might not be the easiest option.
"I think we need to cut ourselves a bit of slack around screen-time", she said. "Nobody wants their kids on screens all day, you want them on screens as little as possible ideally but I think we have to be realistic." She also noted that in the past kids spent more time outdoors but largely because there was usually a parent - mostly the mother - keeping an eye on things.
She suggested trying to get the kids outdoors in the early part of the day: "At least you've done something with them, it helps your guilt!"
Hogan and her husband recently managed their third family holiday abroad in 22 years, which brought "huge excitement". She did note, however, that it was "the same chaos, different location", so arming yourself with tips and tricks to managing that is vital.
"Cranky form comes with not having a routine and not having enough sleep and the heat meaning that you're not sleeping, and the food being a little bit different", she said. "So lower your expectations and lower them a little bit more."
Doing things separately can help a holiday go smoothly, she added. "Meeting the needs of that big family, there were teenagers and there were smaller children, and not being a afraid to sometimes break up and do things separately where you could.
"We wanted to be together, we wanted that big family experience but also ... take a little bit of time for yourself too, because it is your holiday too and we work hard all year round."
