I’m not going to lie to you. I love half terms. As a kid growing up in the country on the wrong side of the iron curtain, I didn’t have half terms. Alas, why would I? The system needed full devotion from the early start, and as youngsters, we were forced to be full, entirely and unconditionally focused and devoted. Besides, it is apparent to me after becoming a parent myself that the children are exhaustion proof and can keep going for hours with no end (this is one of the reasons I don’t think half terms are for kids). I bet the government of Communist Poland knew that all along and was just trying to save the parents troubles of figuring out what to do with the kids during the forced break.

In my humble, personal opinion half terms must be for parents who are trying to get a break from daily school runs, afternoon activities, dinners, lunches and the general rush they have to survive every day of every week.

Usually, our half terms are packed with airports, driving, waiting, walking, sightseeing, hitting coffee shops and top places to eat. London is exciting but also expensive if you are staying in the city for the whole week and the fun activities stuff doesn’t come cheap. However, this spring halftime we decided to go for a semi-lazy half term activity that included hitting a couple of museums (luckily still free of charge but I’m sure the authorities are working hard to change that).

In my mind, it was supposed to be on the verge of a resting/culture week. But since we all know that life is not a Hollywood script, everything went south on the first day when my son got sick at full throttle: throwing up, stomach pains, high temperature, not sleeping well at night and throwing up some more. According to Murphy’s Law, I apparently managed to catch the same bug in no time at all leaving me for days in pain and unable to get out of bed. Luckily little one’s granny also had a half term with us and proved to be immune to the nasty germ, so was able to help us survive.

I’m not complaining; I’m not complaining at all. I know this is one of the joys of being a parent; even when you lose your voice and can’t move for days, it’s still worth it.