Holidays should be fun! They should be a time for relaxing and recharging before we begin the long haul of the next term. Sadly, as most teachers can tell you, holidays can be no fun at all. We spend so much of our evenings and weekends at home marking, planning and simply working during the school term that the usual jobs that need doing around the house get ignored. However, these jobs don’t go away. No, they gather together, plot their evil plans and gang up, lying in wait until they see their chance. Then, on the first day of the holidays they pounce! The weeds grab you first, dragging you down like monstrous triffids (ask your parents). Then, the horrors of D.I.Y. rear their ugly heads, not just in ones, but as a wild group, pawing and clawing at you until you break down, give in and have to reach for the toolbox to fend them off. Wives (or husbands) and kids wave lists in front of your face, dazzling you with words like “car” and “shelving” until your head spins and your knees become weak. It all becomes too much!

After this holiday I’m going to need a holiday!