School holiday envy is real - and no, I don’t want to see your Fiji pics right now

School holidays have just begun and I’m already spiralling. I know what’s coming - and watching you swan around Europe or Fiji isn’t helping.

Rebel Wylie

3 min read

July 4, 2025 - 11:07AM

Parenting

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School holiday envy. It’s a very specific kind of emotional spiral that only parents - especially the working kind - will understand.

It arrives with that first quiet morning after the term ends. When your kids sleep in (bliss!), your house is momentarily peaceful (bliss!)… and then you open Instagram and realise: Oh. Everyone has gone to Europe.

And that’s when it hits.

School holiday envy: it’s not jealousy, it’s logistics-based despair

Because while my friends are swanning around the Amalfi Coast with fresh mozzarella and what appears to be well-behaved children, I am here at home, trying to meet deadlines while surrounded by siblings who suddenly cannot breathe the same air without yelling about it.

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You're sipping cocktails. I'm sipping cold tea. Image: Supplied

I’ve been the smug one. I have.

Not in Europe - I’m not that fancy - but I’ve been the woman in Fiji, hashtagging #Bula like a demon, posting poolside cocktail pics while my kids were tucked away in Kidz Klub eating ice cream for breakfast.

But I’m not her this year. This year, I am home.

It’s Day One of the holidays, and already I’ve heard, “Can I have a snack?” five times, and, “My foot feels sore” twice.

He’s not faking. He’s genuinely concerned. This kid has to report a medical issue several times a day. He shows me every bruise. Every paper cut. Tells me when his lips are dry, when his toe “feels weird,” and when the crease on his palm looks “a bit like a snake.”

The child is basically his own GP. And while I love that for him, I also have a job to do, a house to run, and a steadily declining grip on my sanity.

I've been the smug one on holiday too, I get it. Image: Supplied

You’re sipping cocktails. I’m sipping cold tea and stress.

Meanwhile, the beach reels are rolling in. Slow-motion waves. Sun-kissed families. Matching swimwear and not a Vegemite smear in sight.

Again - thrilled for my friends. Love that journey. But also… wahhhh.

Because school holiday envy is sneaky. It’s not about wanting someone else's life, it’s about the sheer contrast fatigue.

They're sipping mocktails by a lagoon. I’m pretending figuring out how to get kids to holiday work shifts while simultaneously doing my own work.

They're wearing resort wear. I’m wearing what I slept in and calling it “lounge luxe.”

They're uploading “island time” pics. I’m making a spreadsheet of free activities that require no petrol and very little emotional energy.

And yes, I could turn off my phone. But I won’t. Because I also need the escapism.

Even if it makes me feel slightly dead inside to see my pals glowing and relaxed while I’m crouching under the kitchen table trying to take a work call in peace.

I know what’s coming

Right now, it’s early days. We’ve still got hope. We’re baking banana bread and ignoring the kitchen mess.

But it's always Pinterest family by morning, feral by Friday.

By the end of the first week, it’ll unravel. Craft will become chaos. The dog will eat something it shouldn’t. The kids will fight about ... well, everything. And I will start fantasising about a spontaneous work trip that takes me somewhere - anywhere - with silence and room service.

Meanwhile, the holiday posts will just keep coming. The feet-in-sand shots. The luxury buffet spreads.

You’re on a yacht, I’m on my last nerve.

Again - I’m happy for all of you living it up right now. Truly. But also, maybe wait till the rest of us are back in Term Time Mode before you drop another 15-photo carousel of your snorkelling adventure.

To my fellow at-home warriors: I see you. We’re going to make it. Probably. We just need to pace ourselves. One highly-structured, semi-screen-time-dependent day at a time.