April Holidays

I can’t believe we’re already wrapping up the first term of the school year. Didn’t it just start? If you’re unfamiliar with New Zealand schools, I go into more detail here, but for the context of this post, it is important to know that Kiwi school starts at the beginning of February with Term 1, followed by a two week break, then Term 2 followed by either a two or three week break in July, Term 3 with a two week break in October, and Term 4 wrapping up in mid-December. In addition to the school holiday breaks, there are all sorts of public holidays that schools have too: your city anniversary day, Waitangi Day, Good Friday, Easter (recognised the following Monday), King’s Birthday weekend, Matariki, Labour Day, and a smattering of other days that your school will decide on for everything from staff-only days to the kind of annoying mid-term break days off.

In 2023, the calendar is aligned in such a way that there is a huge swath of time lined up with no school: first Good Friday and Easter, followed immediately by two weeks of the normal school holiday, followed by Anzac Day on Tuesday the 25th so everyone has decided that there is no point in going to school on Monday the 24th either. My daughter’s school decided to tack on a teacher-only day on the 6th which means she is out of school for a full three weeks in April and only has five school days the entire month. This is a calendar fluke and isn’t the norm, but I know it gave a lot of parents anxiety about what to do to fill up all of that time.

I’m not too worried about the extended time, but the Easter start to the school holidays is rough. Almost everything (including the grocery store) will be closed on both Good Friday and Easter Sunday. And the restaurants that are open will charge of public holiday surcharge and limit alcohol consumption. So basically there’s not much to do except have quality family time. A lot of people travel over the Easter holidays, and this year it is supercharged because it is attached to such a long break. It feels like we are the only people staying in Auckland. With friends out of town and everything closed, there are inevitably going to be kids who want screen time, and I’m going to be the mean mom who limits it.

I have a few tricks up my sleeve, though. On Friday I’ve got tickets to Megaland which is surprisingly open. I’m hopeful that an hour on the gigantic inflatable course will burn enough energy to keep them happy and entertained. I’m watching the weekend weather closely with hopes that it won’t rain and we’ll be able to visit one of the waterfalls in the Waitakere Ranges. On Sunday, after the obligatory egg hunt, we’ve got tickets to go see the Super Mario Brothers movie in a movie theatre, something we rarely do but something that is fortunately open on a public holiday. Will it be the most exciting Easter ever? No. But this is a marathon, not a sprint, this April. I’ve got to pace myself and make sure the kids are all well rested before all of their April holiday programs begin on the 11th. Wish me luck!