(NYPost.com) Stressed-out parents want summer to end after just 13 days, according to new research. A study of 2,000 parents examined how they cope with the school summer break and found it takes less than two weeks for moms and dads to feel the stress take its toll.
The pressure to entertain is great. More than half of parents (58 percent) find themselves pressured to plan out what their kids will do for the entirety of their summer.
And planning ahead can be daunting, which can explain why 75 percent of parents feel ready for their kids to go back to school at the end of the summer.
The study, conducted by OnePoll in conjunction with Groupon, looked into the parental decisions associated with summer planning for their children and found that three in five parents worry that their summer plans won’t live up to their kids’ expectations.
In fact, 64 percent of parents have felt like they were letting their kid down because they wanted them to do, see, or have something one of their friends had or experienced as well.
So what kinds of things are causing parents to be filled with guilt? It turns out that the number one reason for PSG (Parental Summer Guilt) was when their kids stayed in the house rather than getting out and about.
Throughout the entire summer, parents will shell out an average of $7,333.80 on making sure their kids are having the time of their lives.
While kids are spending the equivalent of 9 straight days playing video games, parents are looking for creative and unique ways to get
Cost of summer:
- Cost of tickets/entry fees/activities during summer: 278.16 (for 2 weeks) x 6 (12 weeks of summer) = $1,668.96
- Cost of food and drinks for kids during summer: 255.83 (for 2 weeks) x 6 (12 weeks of summer) = $1,534.98
- Cost of toys/games/things to occupy kids for kids during summer: 173.19 (for 2 weeks) x 6 ( 12 weeks of summer) = $1,039.14
- All other expenses on children during summer: 515.22 (for 2 weeks) x 6 (12 weeks of summer) = $3,090.72
- $1,668.96+$1,534.98+$1,039.14+ $3,090.72= $7,333.80
Top 5 ways to get kids out the house
- Go to a water park/ amusement park
- Go to the movies
- Go to the zoo/animal park
- Bowling
- Go camping/ send the kids camping
Top 5 factors for deciding how to plan kids’ summer break
- That it will lead to quality family time
- That it’s cost-effective
- That it’ll teach the children something/ they’ll experience other cultures/ things
- That they get a good balance of relaxation and culture
- That the kids will have things to show/talk about with their friends when they get back
Link: https://nypost.com/2018/06/20/it-takes-this-long-for-parents-