Interview with Chris from Daddy of Three Kings

I’ve given lots of love to mums (as they deserve) so I thought for the last interviews in my #parentingthesummer series I’d shine a light on how summer impacts amazing dads too. The next interview in the series gives a voice to how great dads manage the holidays. Today Chris King from Daddy of Three Kings shares how his family of five approaches the summer.

To start with it would be great to know a little bit about yourself and your family

I’m Chris, husband to Tara, father to three little monkeys, Matthew (7), Daniel (5) and Rebecca (2). I live in Chelmsford and work in London as a Business Analyst in the media industry. Outside of work I have pretty standard interests. I love football, books, movies and music. In my youth I played in bands but having three kids does tend to limit the time spent on hobbies!

What do you find challenging about the summer holidays?

As I work full time I’m not really the primary carer of our children — that ‘privilege’ falls to my wife. Fortunately, her current job involves working with schools so she gets most of the summer holidays off (not that looking after three kids is time off!). This certainly helps as having to come up with child care is a bit of a pain and can be expensive, especially as we don’t have the benefit of nearby family to help.

It can be exhausting (and expensive) coming up with ideas to keep the kids entertained throughout the holidays. Saying that, our boys would quite happily play football in the garden all day if we let them!

Tell us how you spend a typical summer weekend or day with your family

We always try and get out and about at the weekend. Some of our favourite places to go would be Hanningfield Reservoir or the Gruffalo Trail at Thorndon Country Park. We’ve also found a great beach hut at Frinton-on-Sea that you can book through Airbnb — it’s pretty reasonable and just makes going to the beach a more civilised experience.

What tips would you give other parents on making the summer less stressful?

Try and stay relaxed about it. Sure, plan days out here and there but don’t feel you have to be doing things all the time. The way I see it is they spend all of term time being stimulated and having to concentrate that sometimes it’s just good for them to chill out and watch a movie or play on the iPad. You shouldn’t feel guilty that you’re not here, there and everywhere all the time.

Also, it’s good to hook up with other parents over the holidays. It gives you the chance to have some adult conversation and lets the kids play with other kids so it’s a win all round.

To finish, what three words sum up the summer holidays to you

Family — Fun — Sun (hopefully)

Thank you Chris for this amazing advice, you can find and follow Chris via Instagram or via his blog.

I hope you loved reading this interview, stay tuned for more amazing Essex Mama’s sharing their views on how to make summer awesome. Join us on this this journey for more interviews, tips and tricks to put a smile on everyones face by watching #ParentingTheSummer on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook☀️👧👶🌈🍦✌⚡️😘❤️