Breakfast Bonus: Time off school

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Is it okay to let your kids have a day off school to do something else? Toni's unsure if her kids are too exhausted from all their extra-curriculars and whether she could give them a day or two off school until things calm down again

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Coast Breakfast Bonus Podcast with Tony Jason Samhi.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Thanks for having listened to our Breakfast Bonus podcast. Today,
days off.

Speaker 3 (00:08):
Yeah, we need to talk about days off and what
you are expected and what you think is allowed as
a parent, because I've got a bit of a dilemma
on my hands at the moment. Okay, so i just
want to paint the picture for you. So both my
girls at the moment are in full noise. Matilda rehearsals,
which is the professional show coming to Auckland. It is
in six weeks time now that rehearsals are ramped up

(00:30):
to a point now where we will have three consecutive
school days Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday where they are rehearsing from
seven till ten pm at night, getting home at about
half ten and then getting to bed right.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
On a school night.

Speaker 3 (00:42):
On a school nights are nine and eleven.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
It's outrageous.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
And look, all of the other kids in the show
are doing the same thing and they are used to
this because this is what theater is, because you have
to be able to practice when the adults can practice
after their jobs, right, So that's how it rolls. And
quite often before Matilda rehearsals. I'll take the last week
for example, my eldest had her big netball semi final
where she played nearly an hour of netball, full noise,

(01:08):
and then went straight to Matilda ate dinner in the
car on the way there. And my other daughter plays
hockey too, so that gets in the way of it
as well. So what I'm asking. What I'm asking is
as a parent, how much leeway do you give them
when it comes to having days off school, taking a
rest date, taking your mental health day. Bearing in mind,
you also don't want the academics to slip. And at

(01:30):
school Term three, for all its glory, has things like
cross country, they are saying their speeches, so that's really
important in their world as well. So how would you
play this.

Speaker 4 (01:41):
I'm not one to take my kids out of school,
I mean until recently for a.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
Month, So why did you say that.

Speaker 4 (01:51):
I have a complete turncode on this. I think if
the experience experience exceeds what school can provide, I think
then I think it's the right decision to have them
trying to find balance between the two. But there has
to be a balance. School is so important as well.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
Yeah, school is important. I totally get there, and I
think the lessons they learn are great. But also I
take a bit more holistic approach to this. It's like, yes,
they're learning academically at school, and I get there. But
if you can somehow come to an agreement, you can
make that stuff up and I don't know when that
would happen. That's again that's a balance. But if they're
getting rounded as a character that I don't have too
much of a problem with that. And they're doing if
they're doing what they love totally, they're learning things like

(02:27):
now they're interacting with adults and an adult world, doing
theater right, and they're also doing things like the sport,
which we know is important for kids. I yeah, I
don't know if there's a chance where you can make it.
I don't know whether it's an afternoon thing or one
of the days they're not at school for maybe half
a day. I don't have too much a problem with
that if they catch up.

Speaker 4 (02:43):
You know how it works in the real world though,
Like think about any kind of extra currection curricular things
with a job. You have to kind of make that work.

Speaker 3 (02:51):
And you know, we come down on the gen zs
here do have a function till late and then can't
come until late the next day. It's like, suck it up.

Speaker 4 (02:57):
Yeah, maybe that sounds you know you compare to me
when I was growing up. You know, I'd wake up
at three thirty most days, milk the cows, do the paper, run,
then go to school.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
That's right, marathon and then you've been there in class.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
Just the guy that doesn't know what HERD testing is.
It's just amazing whole heart of that.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
How are you doing the interney? How are you doing
managing the juggle?

Speaker 3 (03:18):
Well, the reason I'm asking is because I haven't really
dipped my toe in yet. So my eldest who's playing Matilda,
with which she's had one day off and that was
from sheer exhaustion. But she also wasn't a kid that
has days off willing only ever, so she hasn't had
a single dow for a holiday this year. She hasn't
had a single Like maybe I could count two days
where she's been sick the entire year. So I think

(03:40):
I'd have a different view if she'd already had time
off for being you know, like if she'd had a
week off because she had a bad flu, And then
I'm like, oh, already had that day off.

Speaker 4 (03:49):
She slipping behind in anyway?

Speaker 2 (03:51):
No, that's amazing, that's pretty good. That's comparenting.

Speaker 4 (03:54):
That's that's your hurts, isn't it.

Speaker 3 (03:56):
Yeah? I'll be given another week and you know she
might be spelling words wrong.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
What would you do on the sharing ship? What will
you do if she does start sloping there? You're going
to knock something on the head.

Speaker 3 (04:04):
How can you I take a bit of a view
of if you've got a good student that tries their
hardest and is achieving pretty well, then I think the
odd day occasionally is actually okay. As long as they're
not slipping behind.

Speaker 4 (04:17):
That's the key.

Speaker 3 (04:18):
And I also think agent stage of their life, right,
she's not sitting school seat exams or n CEA as
it is now. If it was n c A, you
might start to go, oh, you can't miss that class
because that's when you're finding out what the topic for
your essay is or whatever.

Speaker 4 (04:30):
What would the thing the X Party say about that?
Wouldn't they be trying to find you within this coalition
now if your kids are at school.

Speaker 3 (04:39):
Just for debating this, David Seam was probably going to
knock on my door.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
So the handcuffs to see that.

Speaker 1 (04:46):
Thanks for listening to the Coast Breakfast Bonus podcast, Get
your days started with Coasts Fear Good Breakfast Tony Street,
Jays Reeves, and Sam Wallas