Finally! After nearly 12 weeks the kids in Spanish state schools are going back today.
It’s not been easy, it never is without the luxury of family around you. Juggling a busy summer working in Ibiza with keeping your kids sufficiently stimulated and off the sofa is always a challenge.
For those UK people who grumble that 6 weeks is too long, just imagine doubling it. Whenever I mention 12 weeks holiday to my British friends they look at me in horror but over here it’s a way of life.
Fortunately in Ibiza there’s plenty of options for kids in the hot summer months. Summer schools, sports halls, sailing clubs, kayak, beach days, camping, all designed to keep your kids busy whilst their parents are out earning the money to continue living on an island that gets more and more challenging every year.
I always get asked about how my children get through the summer and the answer is relatively easily (for them anyway) however this summer we have had a new challenge to overcome: namely physically prising them away from the PlayStation.
The on-line game of ‘Fortnite’ has become a phenomenon for all ages and both sexes and the easy option would have been to let them spend all day glued to a screen whilst talking to their friends on headphones however we insisted that they did activities for at least half of the summer.
There is a line of thinking that says that 12 weeks off is too much but I have to admit that I quite like not having to get out of bed to get my eldest to school for 8am even if the school is only 5 mins away (ahh island life).
So today after the best part of 3 months we get back to early mornings, routine and copious amount of daily homework. It’s been a long hot summer but it’s time to get back to relative normality and of course seeing the odd ‘walk-of-shamer’ on the school run. This is Ibiza after all.
"MAN IN SAN AN" by Martin Makepeace 