Summer Holidays: Redefining the Juggle for Working Parents

The Illusion of the Summer “Break”

Summer holidays arrive with a collective exhale. So many end of term concerts, sharings, assemblies, sports days, trips… and….. we’re done! The school year ends and a longed for breath and some space opens. No more school runs. No more frantic mornings. No more forgotten lunchboxes or late-night homework crises.

But for senior executives, especially mothers, that exhale often doesn’t last long.

The question arises: Summer holiday for whom?

While children have a newfound freedom, many working mothers find themselves carrying an even heavier load. Leadership responsibilities don’t pause. And now, layered on top, come the expanded demands of childcare, household coordination, and the invisible weight of emotional labour.

When the Rhythm is lost

In our professional lives, we thrive within structured rhythms. Quarterly reviews, strategic planning cycles, and project milestones. These frameworks provide clarity and containment.

But at home during summer, the rhythm evaporates. The structure of school days disappears, and suddenly, we’re expected to be:

• Responsive leaders

• Full-time caregivers

• Logistics managers

• Emotional anchors

…all at once.

Even in homes with shared parenting, studies consistently show that women carry the brunt of the organisation, management and emotional labour, of over 90% of family needs and the domestic tasks, especially during school holidays. From managing holiday clubs and screen time limits to decompressing from the school year, to the emotional support for loss of friend time and clear routines, the often hidden emotional and mental load is immense.

And the effects ripple. Children can feel unmoored, disconnected from peers, overstimulated, or adrift without their usual routines. A household that hoped for lightness and space may instead feel disconnected and stressed. There is evidence that families are increasingly isolated from each other (as the temptation of easy entertainment on our headphones increases), and the ever changing needs of growing kids increases the pressure, making us all distinctly frayed at the edges.

Claiming a New Rhythm

We believe leadership begins with presence. Rather than reacting to the pressures of summer, what if we chose to be very present to the reality if the size of the job! Let’s see it as the enormous project it is, and respond with intention?

This isn’t about striving for perfection. It’s about reclaiming your family's most effective rhythm, one that aligns with the real-time needs of your family, your work, your leadership, and your well-being. Rhythms that allow for connection and boundaries. Responsibility and rest.

And let’s remember the importance of boredom. We should not need to feel entertained, stimulated and dopamine activated every day. Much of life is mundane and ordinary and repetitive, and we all need to be OK with that! Because boredom is a gateway. When we resist the urge to fill every gap with entertainment or tasks, we allow creativity to emerge. “I’m bored,” a child says. “Good,” we say, stay with that feeling. Let the nothingness speak.

Three Strategies for a More Conscious Summer

1. Weekly Family Meetings

Hold space once a week for every family member to be heard. Use a “talking stick” (a spoon, a toy, a stone) and pass it around so each person shares at their level and no-one can interrupt. This does not pretend the family is a democracy, parents make the decisions! But everyone's voice, hopes and needs are welcomed.

• Three things they hope for in the coming week

• Three things they’re willing to contribute to the family

You can build in topics: e.g., menu planning, task/chore allocation, all age appropriate of course, but my kids learnt this rhythm early on and now, as "kidults”, will still call family meetings if they need to. It is a simple ritual, but my experience is that it builds empathy, ownership, collaboration and emotional literacy. When children see their parents modelling clear needs and respectful listening, it starts to build resilience for the future, in life and in leadership.

“Shared responsibility becomes a lived experience, not just a (potentially) unmet expectation”

2. Reframe Chores as Care-in-Action!

Chores aren’t punishments, they’re proof we care! About our environment and each other! They're part of belonging to a living system. In the holidays, increase age-appropriate contributions and make them visible. Even toddlers can help feed pets or sort socks.

We call it “Camp Care”. This was our way of making sure we could get the kids involved during our camping holidays - everyone loves camp care as it makes our camp run well! And in the summer, no school time (not a holiday!), we transferred it to home. Right, there is no school, so let’s pretend we are camping at home - How are we going to do it? This did lead to the kids camping in the garden quite a lot too. You might want to use charts, team roles, rewards, cook night (teens become head chef!), job lists in the beginning of the day which are completed by the end, your creativity is endless on this… And one of our faves - back to back DJing (each person chooses a track in turn) to keep the clearing up energy high!

“Responsibility, when normalised early, becomes a source of pride, not pressure.”

3. Protect Work Boundaries — and remember Rest Windows

Working from home? Make boundaries tangible. Use visual signals (a sign on the door, headphones on) to indicate focused work time. Then match these boundaries with scheduled rest windows, shared breaks, snacks in the sun, or ten minutes of barefoot time outside.

Even micro-moments of reconnection can restore the nervous system for everyone.

“When you honour your time, others learn to honour it too AND they will learn to honour their own.”

Leadership, Redefined

The school holidays need to be named as such! They are the No School time, a “holiday”. They are a true stress test for your family system! But if we can see it coming, we can also see the potential for it to build our family’s resilience and shared responsibility. It is certainly NOT a break for working parents, but it can become a season of re-alignment, one where traditional roles can be explored and perhaps re-defined. New levels of empowerment can take shape, and a healthy family dynamic can be nurtured and relationships deepen.

This is an opportunity for you to lead not only in boardrooms, but at home too. Hopefully with clarity, grace, and grounded presence. And when it all falls apart… call a family meeting to solve it together!

Let the season teach you.
Let boredom make space for creativity.
Let rhythm guide your summer.

Reflective Questions for the Conscious Leader

• What can summer holidays teach us?

• How does Rhythm create soft structure, allowing for boundaries and freedom.

• Where can you create more empowerment and shared ownership, at home and at work?

• How might you use this summer to model sustainable leadership for your children and your team?

We would love to hear your answers
Join our Firelight Circle today to share with us and explore how others are redefining leadership through nature’s cycles, community connection, and grounded feminine power.