The summer holidays start tomorrow for the two eldest kids. Yee sodding ha. Officially they were due to finish on the 2nd of July, but in typical French rule bending style, the school sent a letter home last week, to inform us lucky parents that our delightful offspring would be home for the summer a week early. As if I didn't have enough to cope with. Now I will have to suffer an extra week of screaming teenagers. Last week they had friends over and my husband walked into the kitchen (and then straight out again) before referring to the racket they were making as being ' like a tea party for autistic hyenas.' A pretty apt description.

They are at the stage where they are either screaming with laughter or sobbing with pent up rage. I imagine this is to do with the tsumani of hormones that is flooding their systems. I hope it will pass. In the meantime lots of healthy sporty activity seems to help, plus a regular dose of B6. Luckily the weather has finally improved and we have been to the beach after school for the last couple of days for some surfing action. At least there, when they start screaming at each other, I can immerse myself in a book and ignore them.

Youngest son has suddenly become a voracious reader which is excellent news. I do like children that will sit in silence for hours. All three are also able to read in the car so long journeys are now much more bearable. Our record to date is just under three hours with all three silent and engrossed in a book. Given the sheer size of France, long journeys are a part of life so the reading in the car thing is Very Good News. My parents bought him a Puffin Club membership for Christmas and it has been absolutely brilliant. I would highly recommend this to ex-pat families. He loves the monthly magazine and being able to choose a free book every month. There is a good website too and it is a cost effective way of supplying your kids with reading matter. Apart from wanting the kids to continue to read in English, French children's books are just not very good and hugely expensive. As a result very few French children have anything like the number of books that you would find in an English household. It's a shame.

There are however many books on teenage psychology. Maybe I should buy myself one. If nothing else, if it was suitably weighty I could use it as something to throw across the kitchen at them when they misbehave.....