They Did What I Didn't Want Them To Do

So we have the news that the HK Government has declared all schools to be closed for the summer. Hm. The quote was: "The number of swine flu cases is increasing and there is a sign that it will become the major seasonal flu". Now, Im not sure about anybody else, but it seems to me that even when seasonal flu is hitting everyone really badly (like in England last winter), governments don't close down all the schools for two months.

It's not that I'm bitter about having to occupy my kids' time every day (no!). I can come up with things to do. But schools are better, especially pre-schools. There are more things to do. Each child is not limited to what the other one wants to do. The kids get to see all their friends at once. They need socialisation. One-on-one playdates are great, but they need to be limited in time, as the kids end up alternating between arguing and playing well. That's fine sometimes, it needs to occur, but it is quite taxing on the adults (you try not to lose it when it's the 15th argument about one child wanting something that didn't seem interesting until the other child picked it up!). In school there is a little microcosm of society and the kids learn to self-police: if someone is too bratty, bullyish, etc, the other kids don't want to play with them. They learn a lot faster that way than when I'm nagging at them to share and play nicely. And games are a lot more fun with more kids involved.

So we'll be doing playdates, swimming, craft...