Ep31. Calm Summer Series Part 2: Making Holidays Feel Easier

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In this episode of Your Calm Parenting Path, Nina gently unpacks why school holidays can feel both beautiful and overwhelming - and shares three simple shifts to help you feel more grounded as summer begins.

If you’re craving less chaos and more ease, Calm Summer Series Part 2: Making Holidays Feel Easier will give you practical, compassionate support.

You'll Learn

• What makes the school holidays so mentally and emotionally demanding

• How to ease guilt and overwhelm as summer begins

• Ways to build more breathing room into your days

• A simple connection practice to help kids settle

• How to get a little extra support for the holidays (hint: it may involve a certain calm summer masterclass…)

Why This Episode Matters

School holidays often stir up guilt, exhaustion, overstimulation and the pressure to “do it all”.

This episode helps you release that weight and find a softer, more spacious way to move through summer - one rooted in presence, connection and realistic expectations.

If you want the holidays to feel calmer, this is your invitation.

Take Home Action

Write down the three shifts - kindness to yourself, breathing room, and connection first - and think about how you can ease these into your school holiday journey this summer.

Take the Next Step

If you’d love deeper support in shaping a calmer, more intentional summer, join Nina’s masterclass The Calm Summer Blueprint on the 3rd December.

Early bird pricing and bonuses are available until 27th November, and the replay will be available after 3rd December.

Links and Resources

• Get your ticket for Your Calm Summer Blueprint Masterclass

• Listen to Episode 30. Calm Summer Series Part 1: Juggling Work and Play, with Sarah Thomson

• Listen to Episode 32 with Jess Gannoway - coming next week!

  
  

Let’s Connect

Want more support? Follow Nina on Instagram, or sign up for tips and updates at mindfulparentinglifestyle.com.au.

Have a question or parenting challenge you'd like addressed on the podcast? Send a DM or an email.

• Follow Nina on Instagram

• Website: mindfulparentinglifestyle.com.au

• Email: nina@mindfulparentinglifestyle.com.au

About the Host

Nina Visic is a mindful parenting coach, speaker, and mum of three who supports overwhelmed parents to move from reactivity to calm, confident connection.

Drawing on mindfulness, emotional regulation, and practical tools, she helps families create more peace and presence in everyday life.

As someone who has navigated many summers with young children at home while running a business, Nina deeply understands the pressure holidays can bring - the noise, the mess, the mental load, and the longing to enjoy it all without burning out. Her work is grounded in compassion and real-life experience, making her guidance accessible and reassuring.

Through her coaching, workshops and podcast Your Calm Parenting Path, Nina’s mission is to help parents feel supported, understood, and empowered as they raise their children with kindness and intention… especially during high-pressure seasons like the school holidays.

Transcript

This transcript has been copied and pasted but not proofread or edited, so it may contain errors or inaccuracies.

Intro

You're listening to Your Calm Parenting Path. I’m your host, Nina, a mindful parenting coach and mum, here to help you go from overwhelmed and reactive to calm, confident, and connected with your kids.

This show is for parents who want to raise their children with more patience, less stress, and a whole lot more joy. Because small shifts make a big impact—and you can build the parenting life you’ve always wanted.

If you want to see what I’m up to, follow me on Instagram at [your handle]. And don’t forget to hit follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Now, let’s get started!

 

Hello lovely friend, and welcome back to our Calm Summer Series.

Last week you heard my conversation with the wonderful Sarah Thompson, all about how to juggle work and play during the school holidays. It was such an honest, grounding conversation — and I’ve been thinking about it ever since because it reminded me just how much pressure so many of us carry at this time of year.

Because when you’re working through the school holidays — or even just trying to stay sane through them — it’s a lot. And it’s not something mums talk about openly enough.

So today, I wanted to build on that conversation, but in a gentler way. Not with pressure, not with overwhelm, but with hope. With tiny shifts that actually make a difference.

And then next week, you’ll hear my beautiful chat with Jess Gannaway from The Colour Club Studios — all about creativity, boredom, slow crafting, and letting go of the pressure to be the “perfect crafty mum”. That episode will feel like a deep exhale, I promise.

But today is for you.The you who’s already feeling a mix of excitement and dread about the holidays.

The you who wants to enjoy summer but is also stretched thin.The you trying to juggle work, kids, life, and the emotional load of all of it.

Let’s take a breath together… because we’re going to make this feel lighter.

STORY MOMENT

The other weekend, I tried to sneak in a tiny slice of work — literally twenty minutes — while the boys were “playing nicely”.

Within about forty seconds:

• someone was hungry

• someone else was yelling

• someone wanted me to go outside and play cricket (again)

• and I was sitting there wondering if I can’t even get 20 minutes of work done on the weekend, how am I going to get through the school holidays with the boys at home all day

And then — not perfectly — but just for a moment, I paused.

And I remembered: it doesn’t have to feel this hard.

Not because everything magically becomes easy, but because the way we approach the holidays makes such a difference.

That’s what today is all about.

🌡️ WHY SCHOOL HOLIDAYS FEEL SO HARD — AND WHY THEY CAN ALSO BE BEAUTIFUL

Before we talk about the small shifts… I want to name something we often tiptoe around.

School holidays are hard.School holidays they’re wonderful.And they’re both at the same time.

Why they feel hard:

1. You’re expected to be everything at once

During term time, there’s a rhythm.A handover.A bit of breathing space.

In the holidays? You’re the entertainer, the snack dispenser, the referee, the planner, the comforter, the boundary-setter… the everything.

Of course it feels too much.

2. The mental load triples

Meals.Snacks.Boredom.Sibling conflict.Weather.Playdates.Logistics.Plans.The constant need to think ahead.

Mental load is invisible but exhausting.

3. The loss of structure impacts everyone

Kids need predictability.We need predictability.

Without it, behaviour gets wobbly, emotions get louder, and the house feels more chaotic.

4. The comparison trap creeps in

On Instagram, everyone’s at the beach in matching hats.In your house?You’re reheating your tea and stepping on Lego.

You’re comparing your reality to someone else’s highlight reel — and it hurts.

5. The sensory load skyrockets

Noise.Touch.Mess.Clutter.Talking.Interruptions.

Your nervous system is working overtime.And none of this is your fault.

🌼 And yet… school holidays can also be beautiful

Here’s the part we don’t say enough:

1. Slow mornings are magic

No school rush.No lunch boxes.No yelling, “Shoes! Where are your shoes?!”

Just a slow start.A cuddle.A bowl of cereal without urgency.

This alone softens everyone’s nervous system.

2. There’s more space to reconnect

With no homework or after-school activities, you get these tiny windows where kids are more emotionally available.

Not all day,not perfectly,but enough to feel connected.

3. Creativity blooms

Less structure = more imagination.More self-directed play.More boredom that leads to beautiful, messy, curious moments.

And we’ll talk more about this next week with Jess — it’s such a gorgeous conversation.

4. The “holiday rules” soften

Breakfast for dinner.A random beach trip.Pyjama days.A movie in the middle of the afternoon.

There’s permission to be looser.Less rigid.More human.

5. And — maybe most importantly — there’s space for you

Little slivers of rest.A cup of tea in the sun.A slow breath.A moment of stillness.

Not hours — just enough to keep you grounded.

And that’s why I wanted to record this episode — because when we understand why summer feels intense, we can stop blaming ourselves… and start making small, compassionate choices that help.

So let’s talk about those.

🌞 SHIFT 1: BE KIND TO YOURSELF (LIKE, REALLY KIND)

If there’s one thing I want you to take from this entire episode, it’s this:

You’re not supposed to love every minute.You’re not supposed to be endlessly patient.You’re not supposed to do it all.

You’re human.

So the first shift is simply to soften your expectations.

Maybe that means lowering the bar on housework.Maybe it’s giving yourself permission not to plan every day.

Maybe it’s accepting that work will feel different for a few weeks — and that’s okay.

You don’t need to overhaul your life.

You just need a kinder inner voice.

Gentleness.Compassion.A small exhale.

Now — if this is your first episode with me, you might not know that I’m running a special summer masterclass all about helping mums feel calmer, more prepared, and more grounded heading into the holidays. It’s called The Calm Summer Blueprint, and I’ll share more about it at the end of this episode.

For now, just tuck that little seed away and let’s keep going.

🌼 SHIFT 2: CREATE BREATHING ROOM (NOT PERFECT ROUTINES)

Routines during the school term are great.

But in the holidays... they often crumble by 9.15am.

Instead of routines, think rhythms.

Anchors.

Soft structure that creates flow without pressure.

You don’t need colour-coded charts or elaborate plans.Just a sense of how the day will move.

For us, that looks like:

• mornings outside to burn off energy before it gets too hot

• an hour or so of work while the boys watch TV

• lazy afternoons at home

• tiny pockets of predictability

It doesn’t need to be complicated — in fact, if it is complicated, it won’t work.

Breathing room makes everything easier.For you, and for your kids.

🌺 SHIFT 3: CONNECTION FIRST, EVERYTHING ELSE SECOND

Not all day.Not perfectly.Not at your own expense.

Just five minutes.

Five minutes of real presence — even once a day — shifts the emotional tone of your home.

Sit with them.Join in their game.Look into their eyes.Laugh.Be silly.Be available… briefly.

Children who feel connected interrupt less, fight less, cling less, and settle more easily into play.

Connection isn’t the whole answer — but it’s the doorway.

And next week’s episode with Jess will go deeper into this — because creativity and connection are beautifully linked.

🌞 GENTLE MASTERCLASS INVITE (UPDATED WITH EARLY BIRD BONUSES)

If you’re listening to this and thinking:

“I want this. I want a summer that feels calmer and easier, but I don’t have the bandwidth to figure it all out myself…”

Then The Calm Summer Blueprint is for you — a gentle, practical session where we map out your summer in a way that feels manageable, grounded, and actually enjoyable.

It’s an hour designed to help you feel supported, not overwhelmed.

The live masterclass is happening on 3rd December, and if you book before 27th November, you’ll grab:

• the early-bird price, and

• a bundle of calming bonuses designed to help you ease into summer with more confidence and clarity.

You can check everything out at mindfulparentinglifestyle.com.au/school-holidays-masterclass.

And if you’re listening after 3rd December — don’t worry.

The replay is available, so you can still join in and create your own calm summer at your own pace.

The link is also in the show notes.

Your small take home action for big impact this week is to jot down the the three shifts ihave suggested and think about how you can incorporate them into your summer school holiday journey.

So that’s all for today lovely listener, I hope you are feeling a little more empowered as we head into the school holiday season. And if you need a little more support, check out Your Calm Summer Blueprint.

See you next week,

Outro

Thanks for listening to Your Calm Parenting Path! I’m so glad you’re here, and I hope this episode gave you something useful to take into your parenting journey.

If you’d like to dive deeper, sign up for my mailing list at mindfulparentinglifestyle.com.au for more tips and insights, or book a free chat to learn how we can work together. And don’t forget to hit follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode.

I look forward to speaking with you next time on Your Calm Parenting Path.