Bounty

The six-week school summer holiday is proving to be a bit too long for some mothers, a study has revealed.

More than half of the mothers surveyed said they were tearing their hair out after spending just 10 days with their children.

It also revealed that two thirds believed that their offspring could benefit from more time at school and the same number thought teachers get too much annual leave. Stressed out mothers said that the summer holidays would result in them trying to provide entertainment for the bored youngsters, juggle childcare with work while their children were under their feet all day and deal with increased spending.

And while more than half of them said they were left to cope with the stress alone, around one third of mothers admitted they had difficulty coming up with exciting things to do. Meanwhile, nearly three quarters blamed the Government for making it impossible for them to balance employment with looking after their children.

According to the study, a quarter of youngsters find themselves being shuttled back and forth between their parents, grandparents and friends during the summer. Nearly 80% of those surveyed called for free holiday clubs for those parents who could not take time off work.

Some 1,600 mothers with school age children were polled for the study, carried out by home improvement retailer B&Q last week.

Copyright Press Association 2010