have had it...

yes i do and cant get a brake

If you could afford it maybe you could put your kids in some kind of Summer camp to give yourselfs a break. Or get with other Mommies to watch each other's kids. If you could get enough Mommies together you could all get a break. I work at the YMCA summer camp in my area. We keep the kids busy all day long. Swimming, walking trails, games, sports, arts & crafts, gym time, reading time, movie time, playground time, etc, They rotate all day long, every 30 -45 minutes. I know it's not cheap to put you kids in a camp.

Group Owner:
Arts & Crafts for Kids
www.cafemom.com/group/1557

Done been there!!! I don't know how I survived!? Givem' LOTS of love, when they are acting badly is when they want love more than anything, just not sure how to get it!

They grow up fast....make you a grandma....and those little ones know how to grab you by the HEART!!!!

Honey I am right there with you, I can remember being a kid and man we loved doing those type of things, we would not have a boring moment but its hard for us to take the kids anywhere my dh dd is mean and acts up all the time so we dont have much of just having fun...

Oh god yes! When hubby was away on business for a week and my oldest had me wanting to pull all of my hair out strand by strand!

This is where a schedule comes in handy...

I had 5 with the oldest being 10 and the youngest being 2...

We set up a schedule for summer something like this:

wake up
get dressed
eat breakfast
chores around the house/yard in the morning until after lunch...

then we would eat, and all take a down time nap (due to the 2 yr old)

If all went well during the day and chores got done and people got along
we would go swimming... almost everyday... we had a summer pass that was reasonable...

Once a week we went to the library and did a summer reading program
Once a week we would make our list and shop with the list broken down into 5 lists... each having to shop and compare and do this off their list...

Once a week we would go to the "fishing" hole...or the mtns (we lived near)

Once a week we would plan a play day with a friend and her kids.

It takes some work to make it work, but my favorite thing to say to them during the summer was "If you get bored, I have tons for you to do"...
It's amazing what they will come up with to keep busy...

Try to make a schedule... doing things you like to do...
it doesn't have to cost a ton...
Then make it work for you...not you work for the schedule.

Kids do well with schedules... keeps them away from the tv and video games all day and all night...

Crayola has a web site with a summer calendar of ideas you might try this.

Good Luck!!!