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Many parents detest school holidays when children come home and give them a hard time. From breaking objects, to unending disputes, noises, and high food budgets, parents have to deal with what is supposed to be a blessing to them- children.
However, some have devised ways of dealing with this “menace”. Here are ten ways used by parents in keeping their randy children in check during school holidays:
Taking them to Shags
Many parents have opted to take their children to shags to visit their grandparents immediately school closes. The real intention however could be to keep these little ones away from environments that could incubate trouble during the holidays.
Putting them in a leash
As archaic as it may seem, some parents fungia their children inside the house and go about their business. The idea here is to ensure that they are confined to the house and do not mess outside while the parents are away. Interestingly, such parents often find the house upside down whenever they return home.
Investing in quality viboko
Some parents still believe that sparing the rod will spoil the child and have no qualms with stocking quality vibokos in the house. Such tools come in handy when talking is not making much of an impact.
Tuition
Despite tuition sessions being banned in Kenya, some parents will turn the neighbourhood upside down looking for a facility that offers the services. Not particularly for improved intelligence but to just get the children to leave the house.
Stocking on movies
Some parents have invested lots of money to buy children movies and even pay subscription fee for cartoon and movie channels. This investment is meant to keep the children busy glued to the TV all day to allow the parents to go about their business.
Church sponsored retreats
Many parents, including those who have never seen the inside of the church, enroll their children to church sponsored retreats/seminars. This is not only to ensure that the children are engaged and exposed to the right kind of environment but also gives the parents a few days of reprieve.
Hiring temporary guardians
Some women do not like the idea of hiring a housemaid for fear of toppling their serikali. However, they are sometimes forced to temporarily inorder to keep their children in check during this “difficult time”.The role of the guardian will be keeping an eye on the children’s movements and helping them with homework. Once school reopens, these “house managers” get dismissed.
Assigning them house chores
While child labour is against the law, the line between home chores and slavery is very thin for some Kenyan parents. Ideally chores help build a child's character but some parents take it to a whole other level as long as it keeps the kids busy.
Private tutors
Other parents have resorted to hiring private tutors to ensure that their children are engaged from 10am to 5pm daily. These tutors also disappear after the holidays.
Buying toys/story books
Parents invest good resources to buy story books for the purpose of engaging their children during school holidays. Interestingly, they have also put into consideration the fact that not all children will stick to the books and thus have bought toys to go hand in hand with the story books.
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