00:00I think there is a sort of a higher expectation these days that you have to entertain children.
00:05In the old days, of course, it was taken to the park and maybe the ice cream.
00:09I think that there's a greater expectation amongst children and I suppose amongst their own peer group that you are sort of taken to sort of do things which, of course, cost more money.
00:19Now, of course, we're in the cost of living crisis because, of course, people have to sort of cut back on all sorts of ways.
00:25So having sort of children over the summer is an additional burden, which, of course, has to be paid for somewhere.
00:34And grandparents on pensions, despite what the press may sometimes say, they have to sort of cut their sort of income to suit.
00:44As families look for ways to cut expenses during the summer break, here are a few simple strategies to help keep spending down.
00:52Try bringing your own snacks to attractions as it can help avoid high food and drink prices.
00:59Involving grandchildren in baking items to take also can be a fun little way to teach them basic cooking skills.
01:07I remember somebody said that a toddler runs the equivalent of a marathon and, of course, then they sort of they fall over and go to sleep.
01:14So maybe that's great when you've got sort of very young children.
01:17But I think the sort of that school age children, particularly when you get into sort of teenage years, they have a lot of energy.
01:22And, you know, I think, of course, that when grandparents have to look after them, they probably don't have that sort of that resilience to sort of to deal with it.
01:32So there's the financial pressure.
01:34Also, the sort of the fact that it's fairly relentless, that schools do as much as they can.
01:39And and quite often there are sort of holiday clubs that sort of run specifically for sort of children of working parents, because you're absolutely right.
01:45There's sort of the father that traditionally works, but it was now the sort of the mother works.
01:49And of course, we'll get those often hybrids of arrangements and different types of families.
01:53So so I'm not trying to sort of to simplify it in the current age.
01:57You know, it's very rare that sort of one or other parent is at home looking after children all the time, which was the sort of model going back into the sort of the interwar period and perhaps beyond that.
02:08So, yes, you need to do something with children and holiday clubs are great.
02:11But of course, they come at a cost.
02:13You know, perhaps what we need to do is to look to Europe because they always seem to have sort of better arrangements to doing these things.
02:18And so when I've been abroad, you know, you see some groups of children who are sort of doing things, particularly where you live close to the sea, you know, that that is sort of brilliant.
02:26But undoubtedly, there is also costs to those things.
