Goodnight Columnist Tessa Waugh’s hunting diary, plus our weekly cartoonist “The Final Straw”

Tessa Waugh draws up a plan to cope with the summer break — probably involving some dog mess and boredom

IN my imagination, the summer holidays are always sunny, children never argue and everyone always wants to ride their pony and do their bit to help. On day three, when the fighting has reached a crescendo, the house is a tip, no one’s been near a pony and there’s nothing to eat in the fridge, reality hits and I start to wonder how I’m going to make it through to September. Here is my coping strategy for the next six weeks.

Summertime is “peak pony time” — when even the most reluctant lawnmower/field ornament must earn their keep — beginning with Pony Club camp. For us, junior camp is the first weekend of the holidays and getting two children packed up for three days of riding and camping is a mission. Note to self: don’t adopt martyr-mode by doing it all yourself, then going nuclear. Instead, get everyone involved and taking responsibility for their own stuff.

DON’T be a slave to FOMO (fear of missing out). Adopt JOMO (joy of missing out) and concentrate on the here and now. If necessary, cull all social media until September. Your friend may be wing-walking while her children ride bareback on the beach in Cornwall. Ignore. You will be assaulted with these images at low points in the day, posing the question, “What have we been doing?”. The answer is likely to be, “Went to our local gymkhana and fell off at the practice fence” or, “Went to Co-op. X trod in dog mess and walked it through the house”.

So what? The wing-walker had dog-mess moments and you can bet your life they didn’t go on Instagram.

Embrace boredom. Boredom and complaints of boredom are just that, boring, but they do not kill. We parents are often terrified of the notion and all too frequently resort to filling the gaps with screen time. Allow some screen-free space for boredom and let them work out what to do with it without adult intervention. That is not neglect, that is teaching them a necessary life skill (at least, I think that’s what it says in the parenting manuals).

IF the worst comes to the worst, there is always a puppy show or hound show to go to. Our children have been reared on these occasions. There is absolutely nothing strange to them about a group of people dressed up in their best clothes sitting around a ring full of foxhounds. They will happily watch the affair unfold and enjoy chowing down on the tea afterwards. Job done.

There is a tendency to panic-plan, filling up the days. Relax and take it as it comes or risk burning out by week two. And bring in some entertainment. Friends are good, a couple of foxhound puppies to walk are even better. Leave them to trash the place while you sit down for a well-earned break.

‘Cull all social media — your friend may be wing-walking while her children ride bareback

on the beach. Ignore’