Stressed-out parents want summer to end after just 13 days, according to new research.
A study of 2,000 parents examined how they cope with summer break, and found it takes less than two weeks for moms and dads to feel the stress takes toll.
The pressure to entertain is great. More than half of parents (58 percent) find themselves pressured to plan out what their kids will do for the entirety of their summer.
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And planning ahead can be daunting, which can explain why 75 percent of parents feel ready for their kids to go back to school at the end of the summer.
The study, conducted by OnePoll in conjunction with Groupon, looked into the parental decisions associated with planning for their children and found that three in five parents worry that their summer plans won’t live up to their kids’ expectations.
In fact, 64 percent of parents have felt like they were letting their kid down because they wanted them to do, see, or have the same things one of their friends had or experienced.
So what kinds of things are causing parents to be filled with guilt? It turns out that the number one reason for PSG (Parental Summer Guilt) was when their kids stayed in the house rather than getting out and about.
“It’s summertime and you gotta find your kids something to do. Because an energetic kid with too much free time can land you in small claims court,” actress and Groupon spokesperson Tiffany Haddish jokes in the company’s new summer radio ad.
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Although parents are feeling pressure to go on nice summer vacations, it doesn’t seem like they are holding back on spending money for their kids to have an epic summer break.
Throughout the entire summer, parents will shell out an average of $7,333.80 on making sure their kids are having the time of their lives, and looking for creative and unique ways to get them out of the house and help them create some epic summer memories.
For the 7 in 10 parents that are prepared for the summer, the number one way to get a kid away from the TV screen and out of the house was to take them to a water park or amusement park.
Taking them to the movies, going to the zoo, bowling, and going camping or sending the kids camping were just some of the many other ways that parents were able to get their kids out of the house during the summer.
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So why are parents choosing these types of activities for their kids? It turns out that the most important factor for parents was having quality family time.
Other factors included cost-effectiveness, teaching children something, imparting them with cultural experiences, and giving them something to show or talk about with all their friends when they finally get back to school.