Snacks + Chips
Quantity discount
CHF8.55 per piece for 3 units CHF25.–/1kg
Zweifel Chips Original Paprika Big Pack XXL
380 g
Peak time for parents: bring on the summer break!
27.6.2024
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
You thought the holiday season was stressful? Believe me, it’s nothing compared to the run up to the summer holidays. A goodbye party here, a farewell gift there, a performance there. What this means for parents? Maximum organisational stress.
Dammit, the tomato-mozzarella skewers are taken. Lia’s* mum snatched my signature dish for kids’ events before I could. All I did wrong was not check my phone for 30 minutes. And now I’m frantically scrolling through the long «Klapp» list of finger food items for the kindergarten's farewell buffet. I’m trying to find something that hasn’t been taken yet and is as quick and easy to make as my tom-mozz sticks. For all you readers without kids: «Klapp» is one of Switzerland’s apps for information and communication between schools and parents.
What about the chocolate cake? I tell myself that even I can pull off a 15-minute cake made famous by Swiss TV and radio presenter Sven Epiney (recipe in German). Then again, three other chocolate desserts are already being contributed by other parents. So delete that. I guess I’ll go with the veg sticks then. At least they’re healthy. Oh wait, they’ve been taken, too. Just like the lemon cake, ham croissants, mini pizzas and puff pastry rolls...
Well done, bearer or crisps
And while I’m scrambling to find something to make for the kindergarten buffet, more messages from other parents are trickling in. «First come, first served.» Well done to Luca’s* dad for contributing a bag of paprika and salty crisps. Garnished with a winking smiley in the list. Clever guy. Why didn’t I think of that?
Speaking of paprika crisps: that’s what my eldest daughter wanted for her school trip. Shoot, looks like I forgot to pick those up when I did my weekly shop. And where on earth did that piece of paper go with all the info about the trip? I made sure to print it out yesterday... Maybe it’s in the pile of notes from school and kindergarten, which is even bigger than usual these days. Instead, I come across the form for the school dentist. That needs to be filled in and returned by early June. Oh, what about the registration form for the children’s dance class that starts in the new school year? When was the deadline for that again? Tomorrow. Great, that means I still have a few hours left. Which reminds me that there’s the last dance performance coming up. I know it’s on Thursday, but what time again? 4 p.m. Man, that’s the exact same time they’re welcoming all the new kindergarten kids. So I’ll have to let after-school care know first thing tomorrow I’ll be needing their help. I’ll put that down in my calender right away. New messages have come in: Kaya’s mum is bringing Yufka for the finger food buffet. What is that? I should google it sometime. What was I doing again? Oh right, the school trip. I’ve got to the bottom of the paper pile but there’s nothing. I guess I’ll have to print it out again.
The more information, the less important? Hah, I wish!
Welcome to the final sprint before the summer break. You thought Christmas was stressful? Then you clearly don’t have school-age kids. A few weeks before the children break up for the summer holidays, the organising and coordinating really goes crazy. Boy, you’ve got to earn those holidays.
This means various people from the school, club or hobby your kid’s involved in will invite you to a little party, excursion or concert. All within a very short period of time. «Little» being the crucial word here, as everything tends to be on a small scale. But the problem is,
Many little things add up and become a big thing. Big managerial tasks for parents in this case. Or, let’s be honest, for mothers.
After all, in most cases, it’s the mums who navigate the family through the countless pre-summer holiday to do list. While all tasks are more or less evenly distributed during the school year, it’s often the women who take on the additional management tasks a few weeks before the end of the school year.
In my case, my husband – an equal partner during the year – hands over the tasks to me shortly before the summer vacation. In fact, he does this consistently and sneakily. The countless messages and invitations we receive during this time seem to have an inflationary effect on him. The more they come, the more he ignores them. And in most parent chats, I’m the contact person – just like the other mums.
Am I annoyed about this inequality? Yes. Do I have time to be annoyed? No. Let alone have lengthy discussions about it.
Next year will come
And just like that, a new push notification pops up on my phone. The school’s summer event will be taking place next week. How could I have forgotten? Please bring: drinks, food for the BBQ or picnic as well as sides. Plus: a wooden stick to grill your sausages. Where am I supposed to get a wooden stick from in a hurry? That reminds me: our little one will be spending the morning in the forest tomorrow, I need to defrost the dough to make bread on a stick. And then there’s Emma’s* birthday party in the afternoon. Oops, I still haven’t got a gift for her. So, once again, I do what I do a lot at five o’clock before a kid’s birthday party: I filter the Galaxus store for toys under 20 francs that will be delivered by tomorrow. Done.
At least I’m spared having to make a DIY gift for the teachers this year. At least for the time being. The truly Herculean task awaits at the end of the next school year. That’s when our eldest will join a new class with a new teacher and the little one starts the first year of primary school. Have mercy!
I picture myself sweating over my craft tasks and coordinating hobbies and after-school care with completely new timetables. Hand me a drink, someone!
For the time being, I’ve gone for frozen mini quiches. Instead of my tomato-mozzarella sticks, I’ll bring a plate full of tiny cheese tarts to the kindergarten party. I even bought them myself and put them in the oven myself. And then, hopefully, I will have earned my holidays. Although, they’re not really holidays, are they...
*The real names remain secret.
Header image: Katja Fischer
Katja Fischer
Senior Editor
Katja.Fischer@digitecgalaxus.chMom of Anna and Elsa, aperitif expert, group fitness fanatic, aspiring dancer and gossip lover. Often a multitasker and a person who wants it all, sometimes a chocolate chef and queen of the couch.
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