You know it is the school summer holidays when...

• Your children suddenly wake earlier than they have done in the last 6 months rendering any hope of a lie-in null and void.
• Gin consumption increases. Substantially.
• As does chocolate consumption.
• The fridge is permanently empty...
• ... as is the fuel tank of the car from all the ferrying to and from friends...
• ... and so is your bank account.
• It rains when you plan a day out to the beach.
• It's 30 degrees when you plan a trip to the soft play center.
• Your previously happy-to-play-together children, refuse to play happily together.
• You let the children fight and don't intervene believing that this is an essential life skill, and you can't be arsed.
• You buy craft supplies in bulk...
• ... and borrow craft books from the library.
• Your recycling bin is full of your kids craft creations.
• You know exactly how many days it is till they are back at school.
• You have watched all the DVDs in the house 3 times over and it isn't even lunch time yet.
• You make enquiries for meals on wheels.
• You are actively looking for an Au Pair.
• You are actively looking for full time employment.
• The kids complain that they don't want to go to the park AGAIN.
• The ducks erect a sign politely requesting no more bread.
• Your facebook timeline is full of families lying about having fun...
• ... and pictures of their kids craft creations and baking acheivements.
• You have looked at your watch 15 times and it still only 9.30am.
• All your children get ill, staggered throughout the summer break.
• There is less traffic on the roads but you have nowhere to get to.
• Price of ice cream goes up.
• The old school shoes fit right up till the day before returning to school.
• Back to school stuff is on sale but when you remember, it will be sold out of any size you need.

I have faith that as the summer progresses there may be more examples to be added to this list. For this reason, this blog post will have the subtitle Part 1.

What have I missed? And can I plagiarise your ideas for Part 2?