She wants to spend the holiday at her aunt’s place

QUESTIONMy daughter is always pestering me to let her go and spend time at her aunt’s place although I also want her to stay with me since she studies in a boarding school and now I feel I should be able to spend some time with her before schools reopen. I also do not want her to be miserable so I need your advice. Maureen, KicukiroANSWERDear Maureen, thank you for getting in touch. We have to admit that once children start school they always spend more time at school than at home. What this also means is that we never really get enough time to spend with them. The third term holiday is quite long compared to the other school breaks and this could be the reason why your daughter feels there is enough time for her to spread out the holiday between two homes. I suggest that you sit down with her and talk about this. Maybe she wants to go to her aunt’s place because there are children of her age that would make good playmates. Let her give you her reasons as to why she wants to go and for how long. After listening to her I am sure you can both reach a compromise where she goes to visit and stay with her aunt and after sometime she can come back home to spend the rest of the holiday with you. By the way when children live away from home they get to learn a lot of things especially the values of living in society and getting along with other people. I am sure this is something that can be worked out to keep everyone happy.